


Spies vs Cons

by Quinis



Series: Twins [1]
Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Lots of responses to Prompts, One Shot Collection, Secret Identity, Spies & Secret Agents, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-03-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 23:06:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 50,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1243927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinis/pseuds/Quinis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On one hand: you have a spy. On the other: you have a con. A series of one-shots revolving around the oldest con in the book.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Judgement Day AU

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted at my Fanfiction.net account
> 
> This White Collar/Chuck crossover features Bryce and Neal as twins! This story has been something I've wanted to write since seeing the Judgement day episode. What would happen if Neal had a twin? There have been times when people have been found innocent of a crime because they couldn't prove which twin did it. As for how Bryce is alive, lets say Orion saved him (where was Orion while his son was fighting the Ring? Seriously?)
> 
> Basically, I'm going to write a few White Collar/Chuck crossovers featuring twins Neal and Bryce (Neal is older). Most will be one-shots which can stand alone (I hope). They will vary in length. Additional stories will be added at random. Feel free to post prompts of what you want to see; no guarantees though. I have at least two more stories about the twins to add (when I write them) one of which is a prompt from my sister (I shouldn't have told her about this).
> 
> Just a bit of background info: Neal and Bryce both grew up in Witsec as Danny Brooks and Bryce Brooks. When they were fourteen, their mother remarried; a nice man with the last name 'Larkin'. The three Brooks family members took the last name 'Larkin', henceforth known as Danny/Neal Larkin and Bryce Larkin. Later, when Neal learned the the truth about his birth father (he's a murderer and is still alive) he left and became Neal Caffrey. Bryce stayed and went to Stanford as Bryce Larkin.

**A Judgement Day AU**

* * *

Peter still couldn't figure out how Neal did it. Kramer had announced his plan to arrest Neal over the list of crimes he committed trying to get the Raphael to Sara. He was going to take Neal back to DC with him and keep adding years to his sentence. All so he could have a high closure rate.

Peter had indicated to Neal to run as they were out of options.

Yet, hours later, Neal showed up at the Burkes' house as a free man.

How had Neal done it?

* * *

Peter had shaken his head and Neal moved. On autopilot, he moved down the street. Plans shot through his mind; he would have to call Mozzie and see if they could get a plane out of New York, his anklet would have to be cut, he had about a few hours at most. Slightly lost in his planning, he ended up bumping into someone. A someone around the same height as him. A someone who placed his arms on Neal's shoulders to steady him.

"Danny!" a voice very similar to his own stated, "I didn't know you were in New York."

Neal blinked and examined the person before him. Leather jacket over a dark cotton shirt and jeans that were faded with age, dark hair just a bit longer than Neal's own and dim, ice blue eyes set in a hard, round face.

"Bryce?" Neal questioned in disbelief. No, it couldn't be! However, only one person called him 'Danny'. "Aren't you dead?" Neal had seen the obituary when he got out while seeing if he could track his younger twin down.

"Yeah," Bryce said, seemingly embarrassed about it, "about that... you might want to tell your little friend that he was right."

"About?" Neal asked with a smile and a cock of his eyebrow.

"Turns out that the technology to revive someone exists, as long as they're incubated within a certain amount of time."

Neal pulled a face. That didn't sound pleasant.

"I heard about your commutation! Congrats!" Bryce noticed the way Neal's face dropped at the mention of his commutation. "What's wrong? Danny?"

"I have to run," Neal responded, his throat tight at the thought of leaving New York and his life here behind. He loved his life here; the place and the people had given him his dream life. Leaving it all behind; it just wasn't fair.

"What? I thought everything was going great?" Bryce questioned, "the whole treasure thing was a hiccup, sure, but you made it through, right?"

Neal laughed a slightly hysterical laugh. He should have known that Bryce would know something like that. Bryce made it his business to know everything.

"There's this FBI agent," he explained, "Agent Kramer from DC art crimes. He doesn't want me to be free."

Bryce frowned for a moment and then grabbed Neal's wrist.

"Let's show this guy that he shouldn't mess with Larkins." Bryce always preferred his Witsec name.

"Caffreys," Neal corrected, having preferred to use their mother's maiden name with his birth name.

Bryce shook his head; his relationship with their mother was strained at best. While Bryce didn't approve of Neal's decision to take their mother's name, he had to admit that it kept Neal safe from Bryce's enemies.

* * *

Neal wanted a picture of Kramer's face. The man's eyes bulged and his mouth twisted in numerous, distasteful, motions. He even pressed his right palm to his left eye in the hopes that the vision of two Neal Caffreys would vanish.

"Bryce, meet Agent Kramer. Agent Kramer, meet Bryce," Neal said with a smile. A smile Bryce mirrored.

"Agent Kramer, nice to meet you," he said, holding out his hand for him to shake. Kramer glared at it and stepped back, motioning to the marshals behind him. "Oh. Okay," Bryce commented as he retracted his hand. He placed it in his jacket and pulled out his badge, completely ignoring the guns which the marshals pointed at him.

Neal had stepped back the moment the guns appeared, his hands raised and fingers spread out.

Kramer took the badge and looked over it with a critical eye.

"Everyone knows how good a forger Caffrey is," he commented, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

"Unless you can prove it, I'm not going to let you cuff me," Bryce said, placing his hands on his hips and glaring down at the older man. Before anyone could refute his words, he continued, "you can't prove that I've done anything illegal. And I don't understand why Neal needs to be cuffed for his own commutation hearing."

Neal gave a smile and shrug when Kramer and a few of the marshals shot him a glare. He hadn't invited Bryce.

He hadn't missed that Bryce had called him 'Neal' either.

"Neal," Kramer draw the name out like it was something distasteful, "is under arrest for public endangerment-"

"Can you prove it?" Bryce butted in.

"What? Of course! I have witnesses-"

"Do you have fingerprints? Can you tell him apart from me? You know that if you can't prove it was him, or me, the charges have to be dropped."

Kramer's face turned a fascinating shade of pink.

"Neither of you are to leave the building," his hissed, motioning to the marshals to cover the exits. And he stormed off.

Bryce and Neal shared a look.

"So, what next?" Neal asked, "I doubt you're in New York just to see me."

"Hassling FBI agents is fun too," Bryce responded, "or so others tell me." Neal didn't miss how Bryce hadn't answered his question but, his twin brother had saved him so he let it go.

* * *

Neal and Bryce had hid as Peter left the building, neither wanting to be seen by the FBI agent who still thought Neal had taken his chance to run. Then, side-by-side, they walked up to the where the panel was.

Neal introduced Bryce and the panel dismissed him in order to talk to his mysterious twin brother. Calls were made and identities checked. Kramer's 'evidence' was thrown out.

And then they said the words Neal hadn't believed he would hear;

"Congratulations, Neal Caffrey," the head of the panel had said, "as of today, you're a free man."

Later, Neal shed a few tears on the way to the Burkes, which were quickly wiped away.

Bryce was in the wind and Neal didn't know when, or if, he would see his twin brother again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Danny Larkin meets Chuck Bartowski**

* * *

Neal walked down the street, searching for a certain building. Most of the buildings looked the same. Even the people in front of them all looked the same. Young adults who were supposed to be studious but didn't really appear like that when grouped together. Short shirts, short pants, and midriffs everywhere; not to mention the ludicrous amounts of liquids, Neal ached for some class.

"Hey, Bryce!" someone pounded up behind him and slapped him on the back. Neal winced and once again longed to be somewhere else. Somewhere where people didn't know 'Bryce' or 'Danny'. Both lies.

Neal wondered once again if Mr. Larkin, the nice guy who married their mother when he and Bryce were fourteen, knew just who he married. Had Mrs. Caffrey-Bennet told him about being in Witsec, that Brooks was not really her last name, or had she lied to him like she had to her children?

Neal swallowed down the sick feeling in his stomach and just concentrated on finding the building where Bryce lived.

"Bryce?" Not another one. Neal ignored them. "Hey, Bryce!" Great, he was following him. Neal glanced back to see a guy around his age. He didn't look very athletic, more like a geek with his out-of-control mousy brown hair and white shirt.

The guy paused for a moment and looked Neal up and down. Neal wondered what he saw in his pale blue, button up shirt, black work pants and work boots.

"This might sound crazy," the guy said, "but I don't think you're Bryce."

Neal blinks for a moment at the unexpected statement. He smiles.

"Didn't think anyone would notice," he commented, holding out his hand. "Danny Larkin."

"Nice to meet you, Danny. I'm Chuck."

Wait, he said Danny again, didn't he? Neal had been trying to live as 'Neal Caffrey' ever since Ellen told him the truth about his father. His smile twitched as he pulled his hand out of Chuck's. It was slightly rude, but he was having a bad day.

"I'm looking for Bryce." Neal waved the piece of paper in his hand. "And this map isn't helping."

Chuck's goofy grin didn't fade. He also seemed to know what Neal was asking without Neal having to ask.

"I know where Bryce is," he said, "come on."

* * *

Chuck led Neal to a dorm. Neal spotted a pool table and wondered how much he could fleece from the people who lived here. Up the stairs and on the next floor, Chuck opened a door right when there was a loud bang.

Neal surged forward in worry, pushing past Chuck and into the room.

"Bryce?" he called out. His brother was there, all right. He was standing near a desk with thick textbooks sitting at his feet. Neal breathed a sigh a relief.

"Wow, Bryce," Chuck commented from behind Neal, "way to give your family and friends a heart attack. Again."

Bryce just grinned a toothy grin, just like a child at Christmas. He picked up a bag and stuffed books inside it.

"Uh, Bryce?" Neal questioned. He had been expecting more of a reaction than that. Or was Bryce going to pretend that he didn't exist?

"Here." Bryce shoved the bag into Neal's arms. "You're going to go to my classes and take notes for me."

"Seriously, Bryce?" Chuck questioned, "Danny came all the way to see you and you're going to blow him off for a game."

"Competition," Bryce said, "a game competition. And you're one to talk, Chuck. You're just jealous that the perfect way for me to go to the competition and be in class just appeared."

"No way," Neal said, pushing the bag into Bryce's chest. Bryce refused to grab the bag. "I'm not going to pretend to be you." Neal always hated doing that. Bryce didn't get way, he liked tricking people, but Neal hated when people didn't recognise him and just wrote him off as one of the 'Brooks' twins, and later one of 'Larkin' twins.

Bryce glared at Neal and he could see the anger flash in his younger twin's eyes. Neal sighed. If this was one way he could make it up to his brother, he would do it.

"Fine."

* * *

Neal found Chuck's panicked voice amusing. It rose in octave as he ranted about Bryce being able to go to the competition and how he could go and leave him behind; Bryce was right about him being jealous. Neal found himself wondering, if he hadn't run away and had finished high school, would he have friends like Chuck? People who could take one look at him or Bryce and know the difference; or at least, care enough to know which twin wore what. Chuck admitted that the only reason he could tell Neal apart was because he was wearing different clothes to Bryce and didn't immediately great him with a cheery, 'hi, Chuck!'.

Thankfully, Chuck didn't hold a grudge and helped Neal act like Bryce. He told him where all the classes were, who the professors were, and the little landmines Neal should watch out for so that no one would think anything was wrong.

Neal thought that Chuck was taking it a little overboard as it wasn't like anyone looked past his appearance. He looked like Bryce, so he must be Bryce.

They had fun though. Chuck enjoyed watching Neal play Bryce and Neal enjoyed seeing the kind of life his brother was living.

* * *

Later that night, Bryce snuck out of the dorm and into a shadow down the street.

"Are you going to tell me where you've been?" he hissed to Neal, who had been waiting there for him.

Neal shook his head.

"Are you going home?"

"I can't," Neal responded quietly. He felt guilty for getting Bryce's hopes up but, he had to see his brother. He didn't want Bryce to spend forever wondering what had happened to him. "I can't go back to being Danny Larkin. It was a lie, Bryce, all of it. My entire life and any future 'Danny Larkin' had."

Bryce thought he had planned this all out. When his brother returned, he was going to yell and be angry. But, hearing the pain in his brother's voice and hearing why he left, Bryce couldn't.

Unlike Danny, Bryce hadn't planned to follow in their father's footsteps and become a cop. He hadn't built his whole life around working towards a goal, only to be told that his reasons for reaching towards the goal were a lie. Bryce didn't care about what his birth name was; his name didn't change who he was, but Danny did. Danny like control, independence and being able to make his own choices; which were all stripped from him without his knowledge when they were too young to know what was going on.

Bryce sighed.

"Just, stay in contact, okay?" he said, hating himself a little for letting his brother go.

Neal held his arms out and wrapped him in a hug.

"I will."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a request from my very own sister.

**Little Bryce and little Neal (Danny): Operation, Get to School on Time**

* * *

**Late**

It didn't matter whether the teachers smiled and welcomed them in or scolded them as they slunk into their seats. When they arrived late, all eyes were on them. The late twins.

They missed important things too. Bryce missed and invitation to a friend's party because they were all handed out before the bell went and, by the time he got there, his invitation had been lost in all the excitement. Danny missed hearing what was popular and what his classmates were into, which made socialising a little more difficult.

* * *

**Clocks**

Danny brought it up first. What if there was a way to get to school late, but still be on time?

Bryce was a little sceptical but was listening. They bounced a few ideas off each other before deciding that the best way to change time was to change the clocks. Their plan took a few days to form but they were certain it would work.

Bryce spent time looking at the clocks. He managed to get his hands on one and it wasn't hard at all to change the time.

Neal spent time in the school office, chatting to the office staff. He smiled and 'helped' and learnt where the system for the school bell was. Bryce followed him to the office a few times and figured out how to work it.

When they were ready, they snuck through the main office and into the principal's office. They hid under the principal's desk, the underneath of which not visible from the door, and squashed up tight as the principal worked. People didn't often look underneath their desks and so, the principal didn't notice the two children even when she left for the day.

Danny pilfered the keys from the offices as Bryce fixed the bell times. With keys in hand, the two children spread out and quickly moved from room to room, changing the clocks.

It was a few days before the ruse was discovered by a few nosey parents who were curious as to how school seemed to continuously run late. However, even after the clocks were fixed, there were always a few clocks that didn't run on time.

* * *

**Road Blocks and Buses**

Now that they had a taste of what it was like to turn up to school on time, Danny and Bryce wanted it again. Thinking up a new plan proved difficult and it wasn't until a fateful encounter Bryce oversaw between the office staff and a new bus driver that a new idea formed.

Their school ran a free bus service for the students who lived in the immediate school vicinity. Bryce and Danny lived out of range. But the new bus driver didn't know that.

Being late sometimes had its advantages. Bryce managed to track down the driver and snatch his map of the area.

Danny snuck into the office and, in a perfect imitation of one of the office staff's handwriting, added their address to the list. He had picked the staff member with the handwriting the closest to his own; that is, the one with the messiest handwriting, and practised until he could imitate it.

It worked! The next day the twins stood outside and waited in anticipation. Danny squealed excitedly when he spotted the bus turning down their street.

For the next two days, they arrived at school the same times as the others, arriving barely on time. The bus driver was scolded for taking too long and using too much fuel, to which the driver exclaimed that no one would be able to make the rounds in the time they gave him. There were words exchanged back and forth and the twins' actions uncovered.

The school called in their mother, but she didn't come. So, they called the emergency contact, Ellen Parker.

"We didn't mean it!" Bryce and Danny protested in unison, cowed by the scolding presence of the woman who cared for them when they were sick. "We just wanted to get to school on time!"

Bryce sniffled a few times and Danny wrapped his arms around his brother. They made such a heartbreaking sight that Ellen quickly smoothed the principal's ruffled feathers, bundled the boys up and took them home.

She talked to them and bore the brunt of their frustrations of never being able to get to school on time. Unfortunately, there was little she could do about it. She couldn't get them to school and her attempts at getting their mother into gear had failed.

The only thing she could do was wish them luck and clean up if they get caught again.

* * *

**Bus Pass**

Ellen didn't have to clean up again. To her surprise, the next plan worked.

It started when Danny noticed the kid from down the street catching a different bus to school. A chat in the school yard later and Bryce had all the information they needed.

"He has a 'bus pass' and it lets him take the real bus here," Bryce said, naming the bus number and puffing his chest out with pride.

Danny's eyes sparkled as another plan formed. He could see the same plan in Bryce's eyes.

"Quick, give me your chocolate," he said, holding his hand out to his younger twin.

Bryce's lower lip jutted out but he did as Danny asked. Using the chocolate, Danny managed to bargain a trade. A look at the coveted bus pass; long enough to Danny and Bryce to commit how it looked, felt and smelt to memory, for the chocolate.

A few days later, the twins had bus passes of their own. They showed them off to Ellen but were careful to keep them hidden the rest of the time.

And they were never late for school again.


	4. AJDAUAU - A Judgement Day AU of my Judgement Day AU

**A Judgement Day AU of my Judgement Day AU**

**\- What if Neal didn't go free? And what if, higher ups and the parole board saw an interesting chance?**

* * *

Peter had indicated to Neal to run as they were out of options. Kramer had announced his plan to arrest Neal for the list of crimes he committed trying to get the Raphael to Sara. He was going to take Neal back to DC with him and keep adding years to his sentence. All so he could have a high closure rate.

* * *

Neal moved and literally ran into someone he knew. That someone was able to counter all Kramer's charges and send the agent packing.

* * *

"Unfortunately, Mr. Caffrey, in light of recent events, we cannot justify letting you go free," the head of the parole board said.

Neal felt slightly disappointed but he had dodged a bullet with Kramer that day so, he was okay with it. Another year or two on the anklet wouldn't be that bad; he was living the dream, free or not.

"Agent Kramer's statement and evidence against you also suggests that having Agent Burke as your handler may be doing more harm than good."

What? Neal clenched his jaw and waited for the woman to finish.

"It has been suggested, and we agree, that your handler be someone not of New York's White Collar division."

"Who will be my handler then?" Neal questioned, already planning his escape. Except for Peter and his White Collar team, there were no other agents he would willingly work for.

They read out the name.

"What?" Okay, maybe there was one other agent. But, weren't there rules about that?

* * *

Apparently, there were. But, like any other rules, there were loopholes. Neal spent the weekend hauled up in his apartment at June's in a very un-Caffrey-like manner.

Mozzie wasn't able to visit him.

Peter and the White Collar crew were intrigued and worried.

El gave the 'Congratulations' cake to the neighbours and kept the 'Hang in there' one for when Neal was feeling better.

* * *

Peter walked into the office to find Neal sitting at his desk. He was lounging there in his perfect suit and the hat tilted over his face and his feet up on the desk.

"Neal," Peter said in a disapproving tone.

"Shh," Neal responded, placing a finger over his mouth. "I'm trying to annoy my new handler."

Peter sighed. He had heard the news that the parole board had assigned Neal a new handler and he wasn't happy about it. All he knew was the guy's name and that he wasn't a FBI agent.

The elevator dinged and Peter turned to see who it was. His mouth dropped open and his hand tilted down, almost spilling his coffee on his pants. Thankfully, the drops that did fall out hit the floor and not him. But;

That looked like Neal who walked out of the elevator with Jones and Diana. He was also wearing one of Byron's old suits and another of the hats Neal loved.

Jones and Diana stopped just inside the entrance, catching sight of the Neal sitting at his desk.

The Neal that had been chatting with them glared over at his double.

"Seriously, Danny?" he questioned in a sceptical and annoyed tone, "feet off the desk."

"Seriously, Bryce?" Neal responded in the same tone, "pretending to be me?"

Bryce, Peter realised, was the name of Neal's new handler. Bryce Larkin from the CIA. The board had thought that Agent Larkin would be a good addition to the White Collar unit and the CIA had been looking to place an agent inside the FBI offices for years. He didn't understand why they thought Bryce would be good until now.

"Okay, which of you is Caffrey?" Diana asked, pointing her finger between the two. She and Jones didn't know about the new handler arrangement yet.

Neal raised his hand and lowered his feet off the desk.

Peter did a quick scan of the room. Every agent within eyeshot had stopped to watch. Papers and pens had slid out of hands and everything had just frozen at the sight of two Neal Caffreys.

Bryce gave Diana a shrug.

"You didn't ask my name."

"You," Peter pointed at Bryce. "My office. Now. And you," he pointed at Neal. "Get to work."

"Can't I go to your office and he gets to work?" Neal quipped with a smirk. Peter saw the same smile twitching at the corners of Bryce's mouth. And, in that moment, Peter decided that the White Collar office was doomed.


	5. Break out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A response to a comment left on Fanfiction.net:  
> "Every chapter Neal and Brcey get younger! (Next chapter toddler Neal and Brcey braking out of their cot)"

James Bennett walked through the door of his home to find his wife missing. He called her name.

"In the boys' room!" she called back in a strained voice that sounded like she was trying to whisper and yell at the same time.

James walked into his boys' room to see his wife sitting in a chair and staring at the two cots set up in the corner. Their two twin boys were holding onto the bars of the cot and staring back with big smiles on their faces.

"What are you doing?" James asked, finding this a little strange. He knew his wife loved the kids, but she wasn't the kind of mother who spent all her time watching over them as if she was afraid to miss something.

She turned to him and he wrapped her in a hug.

"If I take my eyes of them-" she began to say before she was cut off by a thump and a toddler's cry. "Oh no!"

They both turned at the same time to find one of the boys sitting on the ground, outside of the cot, crying his eyes out.

"How did he get out?" James questioned in confusion. They had only looked away for a moment.

"I don't know!" his wife cried out, "they've been doing it all day, if it's not one, it's the other! I'm trying to find out how they do it but, they won't do it when I'm watching!"

James turned to the boy still in his cot. It was naughty of them to terrorise their mother like this but, he couldn't help feeling slightly proud.

"Very clever, you boys are," he commented, "how are you getting out, huh?"

As if to answer, the twin in the cot reached out and pushed at one of the bars, which bended out enough for a toddler to slip through. The twin in his wife's arms giggled.

"Broken," James sighed as he faced another expense. "Both broken. I'll see if I can fix them." He really hoped he could fix them.


	6. BLLJ - Bryce lays low at June's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during Season 1 (White Collar).  
> From erindolphin91 at Fanfiction.net:  
> "I'd love to see one where Bryce gets injured and has to lay low with Neal at June's place for a few days. Neal gets look after him and stop Peter/Moz finding out about Bryce cause it would blow Bryce's cover or something."

**Bryce lays low at June's**

* * *

Bryce gasped as his shoulder hit the wall. He slid to the ground as his leg gave way in trembling and shocking pain.

This was embarrassing. He was shot in the leg and now he couldn't even move. If he didn't get to the safe house, they would certainly find him.

"Oh dear," the soft voice of an older woman attracted his attention. She was dressed in fine clothes, from her coat to her shoes and the stones that hung around her neck. Her dark golden-like hair was styled perfectly around her face and her make-up blended perfectly with her dark skin.

Just what he needed: some rich old woman who would either scream or throw a hissy fit. Bryce knew that he probably looked like street scum. The top buttons of his shirt had been torn off and his pants were covered in grime, dust and dirt from when he used a rubbish chute for his escape. Plus, the bullet hole in his leg warranted a call to the cops.

She did neither. Instead, she moved towards him in a cautious manner.

"Come with me and we'll get you fixed up," she said.

"No, thank you," he responded. He had a safe house nearby; he just needed to get there. He tried to pull himself up only for her to catch him before he hit the ground. He knew then that he wouldn't get anywhere without help.

"No authorities," she continued, "and no one will know you're there. We're very discrete."

"Fine," Bryce said in a hiss as another wave of pain shot through his leg. He didn't know who this woman was, but he would let her fix him up and then he would run again.

* * *

The woman, who introduced herself as June, took him back to her house and called for one of her doctors to fix him up. Bryce remained alert and, oddly enough, June's stories about her husband Byron seemed to help. She told them in such a way that Bryce felt compelled to ask questions and make comments.

There was one strange moment, when she reached out to brush his fringe out of his face, that she paused for a moment and her forehead creased.

Bryce frowned at her and asked if something was wrong. She shook her head and continued with her current story. Then, she started talking about a lodger she took in.

"There," the doctor announced, finishing up by wrapping a bandage around Bryce's upper leg. "You'll need to stay off it for a couple of days."

"He can stay here," June announced before Bryce could say anything. "I'll assign someone to watch over him and help him out."

The doctor nodded in agreement. Bryce tried to protest, but they both ignored him.

"I'm sure he'll like you," she said, referring to her lodger.

Bryce frowned. All he knew about the guy was that he just got out of prison, by making a deal with the FBI of all things, and managed to convince June to let him stay in the guest room and wear her husband's old suits.

"Unfortunately, you might have to stay in the same room as him," June continued, "the other guest rooms aren't fit for guests right now."

Bryce just made a small noise which could be mistaken for agreement. He didn't care where she put him, as long as he could escape as soon as her back was turned. The cane he had borrowed from her would have to come with him but he would mail it back later.

"Here we are," she said opening the door to the guest room.

Bryce's jaw dropped. This was what she called a 'guest room'? It had an open floor plan with a bedroom, kitchen, dining and living area, he could see the door to the bathroom and another door she said lead to the closet.

It was an apartment, far better than any of the run down places he had been in the past few months.

"I'll inform my lodger that you'll be staying, he'll take care of your meals," she said as she guided Bryce to the couch.

"It's fine," Bryce tried to assure her. Although, maybe he could stay for just one meal. He needed to get his energy up.

"June?" a voice called out from beyond the entrance. The sound of footsteps pounded up towards them. "I got your message."

Bryce twisted to see the entrance just as Neal walked in.

"Hi?" Bryce said uncertainly as Neal just stared at him.

* * *

Neal was staring at a ghost. He had checked for Bryce when he got out, only to find out that his twin was dead. He had spent days upset because of it; thankfully, Peter thought was because of Kate.

He kept thinking that he should have been there, instead of in prison, and that he should have felt something when Bryce died. There were all these stories about one twin knowing when the other was in danger or dead so, why hadn't he felt it?

"I thought you were dead," Neal said, his voice coming out strangled.

Bryce glanced at June and tapped his head; Neal knew that this meant he had the Intersect. Either the CIA or whatever bad group Bryce was chasing had thought him too important to let die. Neal could get the full story from him later.

"Thanks for helping him," he said to June.

"My pleasure," June responded with a knowing smile. She turned to Bryce. "Remember to keep off that leg."

Bryce rolled his eyes in response. Neal glared at him.

"He will," Neal promised, "even if I have to lift Peter's handcuffs and cuff him to the bed.

"June," Neal said as she moved to leave, "could you not tell Peter, Mozzie or, anyone really, about him being here?"

"Like I told him, we're very discrete," June responded, "no one will know. In exchange, Neal, I would like to know a little more about you two."

Neal glanced at Bryce and he nodded, although his lips were in a tight line. So, Neal could talk about them being related and things they did as children but not about the CIA or Bryce's current name.

"Alright," Neal agreed.

"Look after him," June said, "I'll warn you if anyone comes."

"Thanks, June."

"Seems like you found an amazing woman," Bryce commented once June left, "but, what's this I hear about making a deal with the FBI?"

Neal smirked at his twin. Of course he would have heard about that.

"Spook," he name-called in a teasing manner. He pulled up his pant leg and showed off the tracker. "Two mile radius and all I have to do is solve a case every now and then."

Bryce raised an eyebrow. Somehow, he didn't believe that was the whole story.

"How about you tell me how you managed to die twice in as many years?" Neal said to counter the look.

"Point taken," Bryce responded.

* * *

Neal darted his pencil across the page as Bryce moved his hands through a series of movements. Until Bryce had started his little exercise, Neal had been unaware that there were fighting art moves which could be executed without the use of one's legs.

While worried about Bryce's injury, Neal knew his brother needed to move. Besides, it was a perfect time for him to do a study of a human body fighting.

"Mr. Neal!" one of the maids pounded at the door. "I've been sent to inform you that Agent Burke is here."

Neal gave Bryce a panicked look. His twin needed to hide.

"Thank you!" he called back, "have June send him up!"

"Where do you plan to hide me?" Bryce questioned in a sarcastic tone, "and isn't Burke the one who put you in prison?"

"He's a good guy," Neal responded, helping Bryce to his feet. They hobbled quickly towards the closet door. There was a room in there with a hidden peephole into the main apartment.

Once Bryce was seated, Neal walked back into the main apartment where Peter was already waiting.

"Peter, what a surprise!" Neal commented with a smile.

Peter was frowning and his hands were planted firmly on his hips, which meant that this was not a friendly visit.

"I don't know why," Peter commented in a frustrated tone. He wasn't yelling, which meant Neal wasn't in as much trouble as he thought. "Because when my CI vanishes halfway through the workday then, yeah, I'm going to check up on him."

"June needed my help with something," Neal responded, "and I told you I was leaving."

Peter sighed and shook his head. He didn't believe for a moment that June needed help with something so important that Neal had to drop everything to go home.

"Say I believe you," he said, "even so, you should have returned to the office as soon as June was done with you."

Neal waited a moment before speaking.

"Sorry," he said in a heartfelt manner.

"This wasn't about Kate, was it?" Peter asked, before Neal could say anything more.

"No!"

"Because, Neal-"

"This didn't have anything to do with Kate!" Neal yelled. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. It always got on his nerves when Peter or Mozzie decided to give him a lecture about his 'infatuation' with Kate. But, Neal knew she was in trouble and he had to help her. He had introduced her into the criminal life and he owed it to her to make sure she was safe. "June needed my help with something, that's all," he said in a calmer tone, "check my anklet, I was here the whole time."

"I know," Peter responded, his voice soft. "Sorry."

"Hey Neal," Mozzie's voice announced his arrival through the open door moments later. "I would advise against going outside. The Tupper Brothers are trying to find a guy of your description?"

"What?"

"Neal," Peter groaned, "what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Suit? Neal, what is the Suit doing here?"

Neal was certain that he could hear Bryce's laughter beyond the wall.

"Nevermind, Moz. What's the description?"

"Pretty boy with blue eyes and dark hair," Mozzie recited, "they said he was the real slippery kind."

Bryce. They were the guys after Bryce, the reason he didn't want any authorities involved. And if Bryce was working with the Tupper Brothers, then it had to be a mission.

Neal sighed.

"And there aren't many who fit that description and operate in New York," he said, in order to cover up the real reason he sighed. "I guess I'll stick to buildings for now."

"The Tupper Brothers are bad news," Peter pointed out, "if you've crossed them..."

"I haven't," Neal responded, "it was probably just someone who looks like me. Either way, until someone matching the description is caught, I'm a target."

"Right, stay inside tonight," Peter said before leaving. "I'll pick you up tomorrow and we'll look into it then."

Now, Neal just needed to get rid of Mozzie.

"Moz, think you can put out something to counter the rumours?" he said, "just so they don't come knocking on June's door."

"It wasn't you, right?" Mozzie questioned.

"No. Do you really think I'd go anywhere near the Tupper Brothers?"

"Point. Okay, I'll do something."

Once Mozzie left, Neal sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Maybe I should find a room with less traffic," Bryce quipped, suddenly standing in the closet doorway.

"I'll see if June can set you up with a guest room," Neal responded in a tired voice, "even if I have to fix it up myself."

"Neal!" The door opened again and Neal reacted. He danced behind it, leaving Bryce as the only person visible from the entrance.

Thank goodness they were both wearing similar outfits. Bryce had borrowed a white singlet and sweatpants from Neal, a similar outfit to the one Neal had changed into.

"What's up, Moz?" Bryce asked, leaning against the doorway.

Mozzie examined him for a tense moment before speaking.

"I heard the Tupper Brothers shot the guy they were after. You haven't been shot recently, have you?"

Bryce raised an eyebrow.

"Do I look like I've been shot?" Thankfully, the pants covered his wound.

Another tense moment of silence.

"Tupper Brothers, Moz," Bryce said, trying to get the little guy to remember the job Neal tasked him with, "they move quick when they want to."

"Fine!" Mozzie huffed, "I'll let the underworld know the Neal Caffrey's in peek condition. But, you owe me one."

"Thanks."

Neal leaned against the door as it closed and slipped to the ground. Both Bryce and Neal gave little relieved sighs.

"Definitely need to get you set up in your own room," Neal commented with a laugh.

 


	7. OANY - Old Acquaintances in New York

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From RollingUpHigh at Fanfiction.net:  
> "Hey, can you do one where Sara, Chuck, and Casey are in New York for a mission and run into Neal, and only Chuck knows who Neal is? And Sara Ellis pops in? And Bryce shows up right after they leave?"
> 
> Takes place season 4 (where Sara and Neal are casually dating) but doesn't contain any spoilers. Just a reminder: Chuck's Sarah is spelt 'Sarah' ('H') and White Collar's Sara is spelt Sara (no 'H').

**Old Acquaintances in New York**

* * *

Chuck didn't like the streets of New York. It reminded him of when the Buy More would have a sale. People everywhere.

"Let's get off the streets," he suggested, feeling slightly claustrophobic. He pointed to a random restaurant. "How about lunch, huh guys?"

"Classy little joint, Bartowski," Casey praised, slapping him on the back. "Sounds like a date."

"Chuck, remember that places like this are more expensive than the ones back in Burbank," Sarah pointed out.

"Quiet," Casey said to her in a hushed tone, "I want to see how his eyes bug out when he sees the menu."

Chuck wasn't willing to back down after hearing Casey's comment, so he walked right in and asked for the table for three. Sarah smiled at him and placed her arm in his while shooting little glares at Casey for encouraging him.

Casey didn't care. He was in a good mood since his woman; Gertrude Verbanski, had arranged to fly them out to New York for a mission which involved being her guards during an exchange. The exchange had gone without a hitch and the briefcase gun she was looking to trial was safely in her hands and back in their hotel. Casey couldn't wait to try it out but, she didn't want him back at the hotel until a certain time. Said she had a 'surprise'.

"What are you thinking about?" Chuck asked in an annoying manner. He had seen that look on Casey's face before.

Casey gave a sneer and grunt in response but Chuck's eyes slid off him to someone behind him.

"Danny?" he questioned, moving past the hostess and walking towards one of the occupied tables.

Sarah and Casey shared a confused look before following him. Sitting at the table, reading the menu was a dark-haired man in a classy suit. A black fedora sat on the table before him.

He looked up the second he heard Chuck's voice.

"Chuck!" he gasped in surprise, standing up. "It's been years!"

They both laughed as they hugged.

"Uh, Chuck?" Sarah questioned, because there was no way this was what she was seeing.

"Oh, right!" Chuck said, remembering that they were there. "This is Danny, Danny this is Sarah and Casey."

"Charmed," 'Danny' said, reaching out to take Sarah's hand. He kissed it and ran his hand over the ring. "You caught yourself a lovely one, didn't you, Chuck?"

"Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself sometimes," Chuck responded with his goofy smile.

'Danny' looked at Casey next. He frowned slightly before nodding to the man.

Casey growled.

"Chuck, why are you friendly with this Larkin clone?"

"Not a clone," 'Danny' responded, "and the name's actually Neal Caffrey."

"Neal Caffrey?" Sarah questioned, "the conman and thief?"

"I am. You've heard of my alleged work?" Neal responded with a smile and a bow.

Sarah frowned at him and glanced at Chuck, asking with her eyes why he was friendly with someone like this.

"Look, I know he's flirt and possibly bad news," Neal butted in with an offended, 'hey', "but we go way back. We met at Stanford, actually."

"Anyone else thinking we've landed in the Twilight zone?" Casey questioned, while wondering if he's spent too much time with Chuck and Chuck's nerd friends.

"Look, I can see what you're thinking," Neal commented, ignoring the scoffs he received in response, "and I wasn't a student. I stopped by Stanford on my way to New York and Chuck was kind enough to show me around."

"Why were you at Stanford?" Sarah asked suspiciously.

A look of realisation flashed on Chuck's face, accompanied by a look of horror.

"Uh, Neal, could I talk to you in private for a moment?"

Neal looked confused for a moment but he agreed.

"Thanks. Sarah, could you find us a table?"

Sarah nodded and watched as Chuck and 'Neal', the guy that looked like Bryce's clone, moved towards the restrooms.

* * *

"Aren't you curious?" Casey asked as they took the table next to Neal's. "Chuck knows him from Stanford, called him 'Danny', he introduced himself as 'Neal' and he looks exactly like Larkin."

"Bryce is dead," Sarah pointed out.

"Wouldn't be the first time he came back to life," Casey commented.

"Regardless, if Chuck wanted us to know, he would tell us."

Casey made a disappointed 'psh' noise and was about to speak before they were both distracted by a woman being escorted over to Neal's table.

"I can't believe him," the red-haired woman hissed quietly as she sat down. "He said he'd be here."

"Excuse me," Sarah called, "are you here with Neal?"

The woman glared over at them before nodding.

"He certainly has Larkin's taste," Casey commented.

* * *

"Nobody told you?" Chuck questioned the moment they were inside the restroom.

"What do you mean?" Neal responded curiously. He was surprised to run into Chuck here, especially since he thought the man lived on the other side of the country. Chuck's timing was as bad as always, this wasn't really the time to be catching up with old friends.

"About Bryce." Chuck danced around the subject. He didn't want to be the one who told Neal that his twin was dead; he would certainly screw it up.

"What about Bryce?" Neal questioned.

"He's dead," Chuck said in one quick breath.

"What?"

"He's dead. He died. And it's partially my fault, if I had been there quicker or-" Chuck rambled, tears sparkling in his eyes.

"Chuck," Neal said, grabbing the taller man by the shoulders. "It's not your fault. Bryce knew what he was getting into when he joined the agency. And I knew this day would come. I'm just glad you were the one to tell me that and not some nameless, faceless and heartless agent."

* * *

When he left the restroom, Chuck was surprised to see Neal's table joined up with another one. Sarah was sitting next to and talking to a stranger while Casey was seated at the end and watching everything unfold from behind the menu.

"Uh, guys?" he questioned.

"Chuck, this is Neal's date," Sarah said, "we told her that you know Neal and she insisted we combine our tables."

"Nice to meet you," Chuck said, shaking her hand and sitting down across from his wife. "I'm Chuck Bartowski and I see you've met my lovely wife, Sarah."

"Sarah?" she questioned in surprise.

"Yes," Sarah responded, "I'm Sarah and that's Casey." Casey grunted in acknowledgement.

"My name's Sarah too," the woman said happily, "Sara Ellis of Sterling Bosh. Here's my card."

"Thank you," Sara responded as she took the card. She turned to Chuck, "Sara was just telling us all about Neal. Did you know he spent four years in prison?"

"I did not know that," Chuck responded, trying to sound polite.

* * *

Neal had sent Chuck back out by himself.

"Why does he think you're dead?" he called out. Even though he was a spy, it seemed that Chuck missed the closed toilet door. It swung open, revealing Bryce Larkin dressed exactly like Neal Caffrey.

"Short version: there was this little incident with the Ring," Bryce responded, "I was shot and passed out and Chuck thought I was dead. The Ring agents dragged my body out and revived me. The General found out and didn't inform Chuck and his team because she was worried about them launching an unsanctioned mission to rescue me."

"And you kept it a secret even after the official team rescued you?" Neal questioned sceptically.

"Mine is a 'the less people know the better' situation," Bryce responded.

"You told me."

"Because you're my twin and the General doesn't know."

"Right. Well, we need to cancel 'operation date test'," Neal responded.

"But-" Bryce had been looking forward to meeting Neal's casual girlfriend, even if she thought he was Neal, and running their 'date test'. This had been the first time that all three of them had been free and able to meet up.

"Chuck can tell us apart," Neal said, effectively silencing any protests Bryce had. "You can sneak out the back way."

"I know that," Bryce responded, he was a spy after all.

* * *

Neal didn't know what he expected when he walked back into the restaurant, but it hadn't been this. Two of the tables had been pushed together and Sara was happily chatting away with Sarah while Chuck inserted comments at appropriate points and Casey just listened and responded in grunts.

Neal really hoped Chuck and Sarah hadn't revealed what they did for a living as he didn't want to explain why he was friendly with a couple of 'feds'.

"Hi, Sara," he said, plastering on his conman smile and taking his seat across from her. "I see you've met Chuck."

"Yes, I have," she responded in that suspicious voice she used whenever she learnt something new about him. "I didn't know you went to Stanford."

"Visited, I wasn't a student," Neal responded, breathing a sigh of relief as Sara's phone rang.

"What?" she said after a few moments, "alright, I'll be there." She sighed as she hung up. "Sorry. There's been a hit on one of the paintings I've been chasing and I need to check out this lead."

"I'll walk you out," Neal said, getting up. He pulled the money for the drinks and a tip out of his wallet and they hadn't ordered food yet. "It was nice to see you again, Chuck."

"Yeah, you too," Chuck responded as they left.

* * *

As Neal was walking down the street, after Sara left in a taxi, Bryce jumped out from behind a corner.

"You owe me one," he said as he suddenly appeared.

"For breaking up my date?" Neal responded. He knew without a doubt where Sara's new lead had come from. "Face it, you just didn't want me telling Chuck that you're alive."

"Maybe," Bryce responded with a shrug. "But, did you really want Sara eating lunch with the CIA?"

Neal rolled his eyes and continued on his way, his movement indicating his agreement and desire to drop this trail of talk.

Bryce gave a victorious bark of laughter and then vanished into the crowd.


	8. TS - Twin Spies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From K at Fanfiction.net:  
> "Bryce & Neal were recruited at the same time, but neither one knows the other is a spy. Kudos if you can write a hilarious situation where they make each other while on the run from Peter or Jones and have to hide with someone unexpected."
> 
> As per the prompt, Neal Caffrey is a spy. The CIA tracked him down recruited him around the same time Bryce was recruited. They do not know the other is a spy and haven't seen each other in years. Chapter 2, (based around 1999) was when they last saw each other (this story takes place around 2004-2005, before Neal Caffrey is arrested). Although, they both kept tabs on the other.

**Twin Spies**

* * *

Neal jumped out the window, raining shards of broken glass everywhere, and rolled across the ground before continuing to run. Sometimes, he wished Peter wasn't good at his job or that one of his missions hadn't involved forged bonds.

He had just managed to get Evans, a small-time hustler who accidentally stole a one-of-a-kind listening device from a CIA agent, to blab the hidden location of his stash when the FBI came bursting through the doors. He reported the location into the transmitter in his watch as he ran and was informed that another agent was heading there now.

Now, he just had to lose the FBI. Which wasn't easy, even with CIA training. He was on foot, they had taken his getaway car, while the FBI had their vans.

He jumped back as a random car pulled up in the empty lot. Behind him the van was quickly approaching, lights flashing and sirens rolling.

"Danny Larkin?" the man inside asked. He looked like he was in his early fifties, with wrinkles around his eyes and light coloured hair. When Neal nodded, he threw the passenger side door open. "Get in."

Neal didn't need to be asked twice. He climbed into the car, which was off and running before he even closed the door. Police cars pulled out behind them.

"You think you can lose them?" he asked the driver. The man chuckled, his voice deep.

"This is not my first car chase," he responded. Wheels screamed as he turned, using backstreets to his advantage. There was a computer screen built into his car which showed the locations of all the cars around them, Neal thought it was a little like those car games Bryce liked to play.

The man made losing the police and FBI seem easy. He was prepared too, pulling over under a bridge and out of sight where another car was waiting for them. He smashed the screen in the first car and ordered Neal to follow him as they changed cars.

They were out of the city in under an hour.

"Impressive," Neal commented once they were in the clear, "now, could you tell me how you know my name?" The Director had assured him that none of the other law enforcement agencies would find 'Danny Larkin'. Indeed, Neal was only on their books as 'D Larkin' and he never used the name, preferring to go by Neal Caffrey and associated aliases.

"A... mutual acquaintance of ours told me," the man responded, "said it was the only way to get you to listen to me."

"And where is this 'mutual acquaintance'?"

"He's... picking something up. But he wanted to help you so he asked me. I have... experience dodging the authorities."

Neal raised his eyebrow. This man's speech and movements involved a number of ticks. He spoke using his hands and didn't appear to be lying.

"He will meet us at my safe house. It's... off the grid."

"Alright," Neal said, settling into the seat. "Just, I go by 'Neal Caffrey', not 'Danny Larkin'. Don't call me that again."

"Neal, it is then. Stephen Bartowski."

"Bartowski? Like Chuck Bartowski?"

"Ah, you've met my son. Yes."

Neal wondered what Chuck's father was doing out here, helping out wanted criminals.

* * *

The safe house was a cabin in the woods. With no heat and no hot water. Stephen Bartowski was even more paranoid than Mozzie, which Neal hadn't thought was possible until he walked through the door of the cabin and it beeped.

"Your earpiece," Stephen said, "I'll need you to smash it. Not in here! Outside."

Neal sighed. The man had already made him ditch the watch on the highway, a few miles before they switched cars again. The CIA would give him a new one, but he hated explaining why his old one was destroyed. He knew he wouldn't be able to tell them about the paranoid man who helped him.

"So, what's the deal with the door?" he asked as he came back in after destroying the earpiece.

"Detects bugs and transmitters, like your watch and earpiece," he explained, "I can't have anyone finding this place."

Neal raised his eyebrow. If no one was supposed to find this place, why had he brought him here?

His answer came a few moments later, when Bryce walked in from the bedroom. Neal felt like slapping himself. The only person who knew his name and would be willing to help him escape authorities was his twin!

"Bryce," he said in an annoyed tone. He hadn't seen his twin in years and, making friends with shady guys like Stephen Bartowski, what was he thinking? In Neal's experience, ordinary people didn't have safe houses in the middle of nowhere.

"Danny. Or is it Neal?" Bryce sounded just as annoyed with him.

"What are you doing here?" Neal questioned, "shouldn't you be at that bank you work at?"

"And shouldn't you be knocking off some gallery or something?" Bryce countered, "oh, wait. You already did that."

Neal had to steal a painting to garner Evans trust. The guy wouldn't tell him where his stash was unless he had something add to it. Neal always let the mark pick the piece as it was faster than stealing random things that they may not like.

But, he couldn't tell Bryce that. His twin didn't know he worked for the CIA, his missions mostly involving acquisitions and re-acquisitions with some undercover work and criminal connections.

"I still can't believe you became a thief," Bryce said, shaking his head. "One day, the FBI's going to catch you and you'll be in jail."

"Not if they can't prove it."

"Stop that pacing," Stephen complained, his voice soft but strong. "Or I won't be able to tell who's who." At some point, Neal and Bryce had started circling each other. They stopped, still shooting glares at each other. It probably didn't help that this was the first time they had seen each other in years; somehow they were still wearing similar outfits, and Neal had started his 'crime spree' since then.

"How do you know Mr. Bartowski?" Neal asked Bryce in a sharp manner.

"Through Chuck," Bryce responded curtly, "good thing too, or the FBI would have you."

"You knew what they were planning," Neal said, with suspicious realisation. Bryce was good with computers, Neal didn't think his intelligent twin would have any trouble hacking the FBI. The hypocrite.

Bryce raised an eyebrow and placed his hands on his hips.

"And if I did?"

Neal crossed his arms.

"A little warning would have been nice."

"You should be grateful I helped you at all."

"Maybe." Except that knowledge would have really helped his mission.

"Could I cut in a moment?" Stephen said. He was holding a scanner of some kind in his hand which was buzzing away. He brought it towards Bryce and the noise grew louder. "You... you should know my rules by now. None of the agency's... gadgets in my cabin, thank you."

Bryce's eyes grew wide, mirroring Neal's.

"By agency, I assume CIA. Bryce, do you work for the CIA?" Neal questioned, feeling slightly shell-shocked. He should have expected something like that, Bryce did go to Stanford after all and would certainly make a good agent, but it hadn't even crossed his mind.

Bryce ignored Neal's question and turned to Stephen.

"Okay, I broke your rules but, there was no need to out me like that," he said to him, "I told you that Danny didn't know!"

Stephen shook his head and sighed.

"Take out what's in your pocket," he said.

Bryce frowned and pulled out a locket necklace. The locket was large with semi-precious stones embedded in it. Neal knew what was inside; after all, it was the item the CIA needed to recover from Evans.

Bryce was the agent they sent to retrieve it. Somehow, Neal found this extremely funny.

"Now you catch on," Stephen commented as Neal laughed, leaving Bryce confused. He took the locket from Bryce. "First, I'll get this out of my house."

"Don't just throw it on the ground," Neal said to him, "I went to a lot of trouble to get its location out of Evans."

"Evans, the criminal you met today," Bryce said, his voice slightly distant as he started to put the pieces together. "Danny, what did you have to do with that locket?"

Neal smirked and his expression seemed to mock, 'I know something you don't know'.

"One twin," Stephen interrupted as he walked back in, a finger jabbing the air as he spoke. "To find the location. And the other, to collect the item. Anyone looking into this incident thinks you two are the same person. A little extra security around the mission."

"You work for the CIA," Bryce stated to Neal. And when Neal nodded, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You're not a thief, you're an agent. Unbelievable."

"And you're not an accountant," Neal responded with a shrug. "We really should have expected this."

"We should," Bryce agreed, turning towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Neal asked. He had thought they would get to talk more about this; he wanted to know how the CIA recruited his twin, and he was certain that Bryce had questions too.

"I'm going to contact the Director," Bryce responded, "our next mission, we do together. And, in the future, I want them to tell us if we're going to be working the same mission."

Neal liked the sound of that. He turned back to Stephen and waved goodbye.

"Don't tell anyone about this place!" Stephen called back as the brother's jumped into his spare truck. Neal pulled the locket off where it was wrapped around the passenger window.

"Don't touch the gun in the glove-box, it's mine," Bryce commented as he started the car.

"Wait, what?" Bryce used a gun? Neal didn't. He had the training but he didn't take guns on missions, not since his Red test. "I think we need to talk about that."

"It's my gun. There's nothing to talk about."

"You don't need a gun-"

"Actually, I don't need a 'no guns' lecture, thanks."

"But see, the thing about guns is..."

"Don't make me throw you to the FBI."


	9. TEO - The Evil One?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was rereading 'Intersect Files' by Aspen Starlight yesterday and found this review by exileena on chapter 4:
> 
> "Here's a prompt:
> 
> A pair of law enforcement agents (you pick the agency) show up at the white collar FBI office to arrest Neal because of damning video footage of him shooting someone. Neal is not happy and almost has a hissy fit saying he can fix this right there in the conference room. He uses the conference phone, dials a number, and says, "This is Agent Larkin's evil twin. I'm calling in my favor. And someone let him know how unhappy I am that he let his brother think he was dead!" "
> 
> I thought I would give it a go.

**The Evil One?**

* * *

It was an ordinary day in White Collar. No big cases demanding attention and piles of paperwork which needed to be completed. It was the kind of day that made Neal itch for something more, such as the thrill of the con.

"Look alive, Neal," Peter said, placing a mug of mud coffee on his desk.

Neal's nose wrinkled in distaste.

"Can't we go get coffee?" he asked.

"No, we can't go get coffee, we have coffee." Peter lifted his own mug.

"That's not coffee," Neal insisted.

"I'll take it if you don't want it, Caffrey," Diana said, taking the mug as she waltzed past.

"Hey," Neal whined, "Peter did you see that? She stole my coffee."

Peter rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Come on, Neal," he said, placing a hand on his consultant's shoulder. "We're wanted in the conference room."

'Wanted in the conference room', could mean one of two things. One, a really boring meeting during which Neal would wish a hundred times he could sleep through it without Peter kicking his chair in order to keep him awake or, two, a really big case which might involve him going undercover and a break from paperwork.

And Neal kept track of when meetings were scheduled, so it wasn't option one.

"A new case?" he asked, bouncing out of his seat.

"No idea," Peter responded, "but the two police detectives upstairs seem to suggest so."

Neal pushed himself to smile. He was okay around anyone in the White Collar division but, feds and cops from outside it made him twitchy. He needed the con mask around them.

"Hello," he greeted the two uniformed officers with a smile and nod as he walked to his chair.

They both glared at him, eyes narrowing and frowns deepening. On the left was a woman with long blond hair tied in a high ponytail, brown eyes and a hand that twitched towards her gun whenever she looked at him. On the right was a tall and broad shouldered man with speckled brown and grey hair. He was a bit sturdier and more experienced; the crow's-feet around his eyes betrayed his age.

Neal instinctively knew that they were there for him. Hughes was even giving him disapproving glares.

"So, what's going on?" he whispered to Diana.

"No idea," she responded, "but it has something to do with you."

"Now that Agent Burke is seated, we can start," Hughes said from where he was standing at the far end of the table. He motioned to the officers to speak.

"Right, we are detectives Peterson and Masters," the woman who pointed to herself as 'Masters' said, "and we're here to arrest Neal Caffrey on suspicion of murder."

"What?" Peter bellowed, standing up. Neal felt like doing the same but knew that now wasn't the best time to be protesting his innocence.

Everyone else in the conference room started talking at the same time. Neal was glad to see that many of them were just as outraged and confused.

"Sit down, Peter!" Hughes responded, his voice just as bellowing. Peter dropped back into his seat as he and Hughes exchanged glares. Once Peter was seated, again, Hughes turned to the detectives. "I was informed you had conclusive evidence."

Detective Peterson placed a folder on the table.

"Lance Kendal," he explained, opening it up and displaying the picture inside. It was of a regular looking man with balding hair. "He was murdered last night while working late. Shot directly in the heart and died instantly."

"Neal doesn't use guns," Peter pointed out with his hands crossed across his chest.

"I'm a non-violent white collar crook," Neal pointed out when the detective glanced to him. Now that he had a few facts, he could start defending himself. "And I wear a tracking anklet."

"Yes, we already requested your data for last night," Detective Masters said, "and it places you at home. However, the Marshals were quick to inform us that your data has been manipulated before."

Neal frowned.

"What evidence do you have that Neal did it?" Jones asked in an even tone.

"Security footage of the Kendal's lab from last night," Detective Master stated. The screen behind them lit up, showing a greyscale scene which began to play.

* * *

On the screen, Lance Kendal was packing things away when he suddenly paused and raised his hands. There was no sound, which was typical of security footage like this. Kendal turned around and then was shot through the chest, crumbling instantly.

Neal flinched. He really hated guns.

Another man walked onto the screen. He certainly looked like Neal; he had the same wavy dark hair and slim build.

"That could be anyone," Neal whispered under his breath. Diana jabbed him in the side as a warning to stay quiet.

The man searched Kendal and then grabbed his bag, momentarily turning into full view of the camera.

Detective Masters paused the footage as Jones lightly swore under his breath.

The image on the screen was undeniably Neal's face.

"Anything you want to say, Caffrey?" Hughes asked as all faces turned to the shocked conman. No one expected the next words to come out of Neal's mouth.

"That bastard," he hissed, his mouth twisting into a thin line and his hands clenching on the table. Neal couldn't believe it but, it seemed he was alive.

Detective Masters' hand moved to rest on her gun.

"Neal Caffrey, you're under arrest-"

"No," Neal interrupted, "no I'm not." He was alive and no one had told him!

Detective Masters' eyebrow quirked.

"You will be coming with us, Mr. Caffrey," Detective Peterson said, stepping forward with handcuffs in hand. "You have the right to remain silent-"

"I didn't do this!" Neal yelled, throwing his arms out. Diana reached out and placed one of her hands on his shoulder and the other on his wrist, ready to hold him down if necessary.

"Neal, calm down," she said.

"No! I can prove it wasn't me! Right here and right now!"

"Caffrey," Hughes started to say before Peter interrupted;

"Give him a chance." Everything paused and everyone turned to look at him. Neal breathed a sigh of relief. Peter was sometimes a wild card during situations like this; Neal couldn't predict whether he would believe him or the people arresting him. "Neal says he can prove it right here and right now, why wait? If he can't, I will come with you or you can pick two of my agents to accompany you and we'll help make sure he doesn't escape."

The detectives glanced at each other for a moment before Detective Peterson nodded. Diana released Neal and stepped back.

"Alright, prove it," Detective Peterson said.

Neal glanced at him wearily before nodding.

"Let me make a phone call. I'll use the conference phone," he said, moving carefully to avoid any misunderstandings. "That will prove I'm innocent."

He waited for one of the detectives to nod before picking up the phone and dialling. His teeth were clenched and his body held stiff as he held the phone to his ear.

"Put it on speaker," Detective Masters ordered.

Neal sighed and did so. Thankfully, the call had already connected and it was his turn to speak.

"This is Agent Larkin's evil twin. I'm calling in my favour." The agents and detectives all shared confused looks as he spoke. "And someone let him know how unhappy I am that he let his brother think he was dead!"

"One moment," a dull female voice said before the line went silent.

It was picked up a moment later and a crisp, older woman's voice rang through.

"Mr. Caffrey, need I remind you of the conditions of our agreement?" she said.

"Why didn't anyone tell me Bryce was alive?" Neal bellowed into the phone.

"Agent Larkin's status is need-to-know basis only, Mr. Caffrey."

"Well, he's about to get me arrested for murder!" Neal responded, "I need you to do something about that!"

There was silence on the other end for a moment before the woman sighed.

"Fine. Give me the details of the case."

Neal pulled the folder over and read out the identifying information. He also placed one of his hands over the phone as the detectives edged closer.

"Who are you talking to?" Detective Masters demanded to know.

"Who I am is none of your business," the woman's crisp voice stated, "what does matter is that the information that states Neal Caffrey is a twin has been sent to your station. His brother was the one who dispatched Mr. Kendal last night, the case is closed and I have repaid my agent's favour to Mr. Caffrey." With that said, the line went dead.

"I thought you said that you would prove your innocence," Detective Masters stated in a frustrated tone.

"I did," Neal responded with a frown. "I'm an identical twin. My brother, who I thought was dead by the way, is the one who killed your Mr. Kendal. And you might want to look a little deeper into Mr. Kendal because, if my brother was there, then he probably wasn't a good guy. And the information proving this has been sent to your station." Neal gave her a thin smile. "And I had to call in a really good favour to do so too, so you better appreciate it."

The detective was about to say something when her partner's phone rang.

"Lady on the phone was right," he said when he hung up, "case is closed. Let's go, Tiffany."

Detective Masters looked scandalised as she followed her partner out. She shot one last glare at Neal before exiting the conference room.

"'Agent Larkin'?" Jones questioned.

"So, you're a twin?" Diana added.

"You know, none of this is in your file," Peter commented.

Neal gave a secretive smile and shrug.

"Oh, Caffrey," Diana said, placing a hand on his shoulder again, "if you think you can just leave it at that, you have another thing coming."

"Yep," Jones agreed, "we want to know about this 'brother' of yours."

"And why you called yourself 'Agent Larkin's evil twin'," Diana added.

"That's simple. He's a fed and I'm a con, evil by default," Neal said. He used Diana's moment of surprise to slip out of her grip and escape towards the door.


	10. L - Literal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my ideas arising from PMs with KeJae:   
> "now I have an idea where Peter tackles Bryce to the ground, thinking he's Neal (and maybe brings him back to the FBI building) when he's not. And no one believes him until Neal walks in, confused at all the commotion."
> 
> In this one, Neal didn't visit Bryce at Stanford and neither twin has seen the other since Neal left. It just worked out that way. Kind of didn't follow the prompt (you'd think I'd be able to follow my own prompt but, nope) and its a long one. So, enjoy!

**They say everyone has their twin somewhere out there. In Neal's case, this is literal.**

* * *

It was a lovely morning and Peter was treating himself to a slice of sweetness for breakfast. He had to leave for work early and he just couldn't help getting a slice of cake with his morning coffee.

El would never know.

"Wow, that's not really a healthy breakfast now, is it?" the next customer in line said to him, "what would your wife say?"

Peter scowled and turned to face the man. Just as he suspected from the voice, it was Neal. He was dressed in a simple grey turtle-neck and black leather jacket and jeans and Peter thought that a haircut might do him good, but it was most certainly Neal.

"Neal, you're outside your radius," he reminded the con. If Neal was risking getting in trouble with the marshals just to bug him about his breakfast, he was going to drown him in Mortgage Fraud cases and bureau coffee.

Neal tilted his head and gave him a confused frown.

"What?" he questioned.

Peter let out a hiss of anger as he couldn't yell at him right there at the counter. He grabbed Neal's arm and pulled him away.

"Excuse me? I haven't ordered yet!" Neal said in an indignant tone. A moment later he easily shrugged out of Peter's grip. "You know, I was only trying to make polite conversation! A joke! There was no reason to pull me out of line like that."

"No reason?" Did Neal think the radius was a suggestion or something? "You're outside your radius! That's reason enough!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Neal said with a breathy laugh and a shake of his head. "I don't understand what you mean by radius."

Peter's jaw clenched and he placed his hands on his hips. Neal was not doing this right now. Whatever 'this' was. Peter was due at the office soon and Neal was messing with him.

"Wrong time, wrong place, Neal."

"My name is Bryce," Neal interrupted but, Peter continued without heading what he said;

"I'm going to drag you back to the office and cuff you to your desk and later you can tell me what's going on and how you managed to get outside your radius without triggering an alert."

"I have ID," Neal said, pulling out his wallet. Peter rolled his eyes and took it. Sure enough, there was a driver's licence and bank cards all in the name 'Bryce Larkin'. Peter groaned. Now there was a whole new alias of Neal's to check, and burn. More work to add to his day. "Hey!" Neal protested when Peter pocketed his wallet.

"Come on, Neal," Peter said, dragging his consultant out of the shop. He flashed his badge and informed the watching eyes that there was nothing to see here and that he was FBI.

"FBI, huh?" Neal said in a condensing tone, "well, no wonder you don't listen. If you're going to take me in, then can I at least have my wallet back?"

Peter gave Neal a curious look. Something about the other man's manner was off. It reminded Peter of how Neal was like when he first started chasing him.

"You know I can't give you back your forged licences," he reminded him. Neal was slouched in the passenger chair with his arm lying against the window and silently staring at him. "Did you lose a bet with Mozzie or something?" Peter asked. He wanted to solve this but knew that work came first. Neal didn't respond and Peter sighed. "Fine, be that way."

* * *

An FBI agent. Of all the people he could have struck up a conversation with, he had to pick an FBI agent. Bryce was still cursing his luck. This agent acted like he knew him, maybe he mistook him for a face on a wanted poster, and took him to the FBI building.

And what was he saying about a radius? Bryce couldn't figure out why the man would think he needed to stay in a radius.

The worst part was that he dragged Bryce up to the 21st floor and handcuffed him into the seat of the first desk they passed. Even with his lack of listening skills making him seem like an idiot, the agent hadn't given him an inch as he took him in. Bryce grudgingly thought that it was impressive. Without knocking the other agent out, which would have caused a scene anyway, Bryce didn't have any idea how to escape.

He hadn't cuffed him too tight but had made it so Bryce couldn't slip the cuffs off. Bryce could pick the lock, if he was alone and didn't feel all the eyes of the agents around him on him.

Plus, as soon as he was seated, people started coming up to him to talk.

"What did you do now, Caffrey?" A long haired, dark woman asked him as she placed some files on his desk.

"I didn't do anything," Bryce responded. He wasn't even going to bother correcting her on his name; they would learn of their mistake eventually.

A few of the agents laughed. It wasn't nasty laughter but, friendly. Like they were laughing with him.

Except he wasn't laughing. Or smiling.

"Don't pick that," another agent said, lightly knocking his hand. Bryce ended up dropping the paperclip he had fashioned into a make-shift lockpick. "Peter'd have your neck."

Bryce raised his eyebrows. That didn't sound like a threat, not even a friendly one. It sounded more like a joke among friends.

Who did they think he was?

* * *

Neal walked into the FBI office at his usual time. Unlike his usual time, there appeared to be a number of agents missing. Jones wasn't at his desk and neither was Diana. Peter wasn't in his office and Neal couldn't see him in the conference room.

"Where's Peter?" he asked one of the clerks as she passed by.

"Down the hall," she responded. Neal smiled at her but she only tilted her head in confusion.

"Everything okay?" he asked, trying to sound reassuring.

"I thought I saw... nevermind," she responded with a shake of her head. She quickly made her exit while Neal moved off towards the interrogation room.

And he found the missing agents. He heard them before he even rounded the corner.

"How long do you think he can keep this act up?" he heard Diana ask. Some of the other agents gave estimations of the time they thought 'Neal' could keep up his little act.

Neal was confused by this. What act?

"What's going on?" he asked Agent Blake.

"Agent Burke caught Neal outside his radius and is trying to get the story from him," Blake responded without turning away from the spectacle on the other side of the two-way mirror windows.

"Really?" Neal responded in an interested tone. One of the agents spotted him and began looking between Neal and the room.

"Neal's pretending to be some other guy, doing a good job of it too, except changing his outfit isn't enough to change the way he looks." Maybe Blake noticed the confusion in the surrounding agents; he turned to face Neal and immediately paled.

"Neal?" Diana questioned in a strangled voice when she spotted him a moment later.

Neal ignored her. He had gotten a good look at the man inside the room, talking to Peter.

"I'm telling you, I don't know who this 'Neal Caffrey' is!"

"Oh god," Neal breathed. It was Bryce. Neal hadn't seen his twin since he left home at eighteen but he had tried to keep track of him. Nothing had been worse than the day in prison when he learnt of his brother's death.

"Caffrey, you okay?" Jones asked as Diana placed a hand on his back to steady him.

"Uncanny," one of the other agents breathed. Neal knew they were referring to how alike he and Bryce were.

They were identical twins, even if they hadn't seen each other in years.

"Alright, I think it's time for us to get back to work," Jones said loudly. The agents knew it for what it really was, not a suggestion but, an order.

"Neal? You okay?" Diana asked in a kind voice.

"How do you know that's really Neal?" Jones asked. Diana smirked and tugged at his pants, where they could just make out the anklet when she lifted it. "Oh."

Neal didn't pay any attention to them. He just did his best to pull himself together before storming into the room.

"I'm busy," Peter said as he turned around. The moment he spotted Neal, his jaw dropped. Neal smiled at him and walked over to take the seat next to him. And across from Bryce.

"Danny," Bryce said with realisation flashing across his face. "I should I have guessed. You're the Neal Caffrey they've mistaken me for."

"That's right," Neal responded in a smooth voice and with a smile. "I'm a felon on work release to the FBI-"

"Hence the radius," Bryce finished for him.

"Right again. Now, answer this one for me: why didn't you tell me you were alive?" He already guessed that the obituary he saw for Bryce Larkin was false. When Bryce didn't answer, he asked, "what trouble are you in, Bryce? Accountants don't need to fake their death."

Bryce glared at him for a moment before shifting in the seat. He pulled out a wallet ID badge and slid it across to Neal.

"Oh shit," Peter swore when Neal opened the badge. Neal just felt slightly ill.

CIA. His twin brother had joined the CIA.

He didn't know how to handle it, so he dropped the badge back onto the table and left the room.

"Danny!" Bryce called his name with slight desperation as he left.

* * *

"Neal, you need to go back in there," Peter said, following him out moments later. He had seen the hurt look on Bryce's face as Neal had walked out.

Neal shook his head in response.

"You haven't seen him in a while, huh?" Diana said, having stood outside and seen the exchange between Bryce and Neal.

"Not since the day I left home," Neal responded, "I just couldn't face him and he appeared to be doing okay without me anyway-"

"Bullshit," Diana responded, "I may not have known your brother long, hell, I only just learnt that it's not you in there but, I do know this: he's just as good a conman as you."

"He probably does a lot of undercover work," Peter stated.

Neal nodded in agreement but didn't say anything in response. He had walked in there, desperate to know if Bryce really was alive, but hadn't thought about how to react if he was.

"I can't process it," he said, "Bryce is a spy. That's a dangerous job. A really dangerous job. God, I could lose him again."

"No, you won't," Peter said, placing a hand on Neal's shoulder. "If he's anything like you, and something tells me he is, he'll be able to handle any dangerous situation."

Neal's mind flashed through all the times had a gun pointed at him and sometimes fired at him. There were times he had only remained unharmed by some stroke of luck.

And he had always thought he was luckier than Bryce. He was the elder twin and had the status of being treated like the first born son because of it.

"Don't I get to be angry?" Bryce asked suddenly, causing everyone to jump. He handed the handcuffs back to Peter. "You left. One day, I had my brother by my side and the next he was gone without a trace. I tried looking for you, you know. I used the CIA to try and find you. After a while, I had to give you up for dead. Why didn't you tell me you were alive? Why didn't you contact me?"

Diana shifted awkwardly. She felt like she shouldn't be hearing this, just the emotion in the two brother's voices was enough to tell her that what she was witnessing was personal.

"I-" Neal didn't really know how to answer that. He swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, sure." Bryce didn't sound like he really believed Neal. "At least with that radius, I'll be able to find you next time."

Diana's eyes widened as the mood seemed to shift. Peter was hiding a smile behind his hand and he no doubt he agreed with that Bryce had said. Neal just looked shocked.

"Excuse me?" Neal questioned.

"We can't change the past," Bryce responded with a shrug. He had learnt that the hard way.

"Are you serious?" Neal asked. Despite his disbelief, a smile working its way back onto his face. When Bryce nodded, he asked, "when did you grow up? What happened to my little brother who liked to play computer games and speak that made-up language?"

"I still play computer games," Bryce responded in an offended voice, "just on a larger scale sometimes, and my knowledge of Klingon has saved lives!"

Neal gave a disbelieving snort.

"Neal," Peter said as a warning at the conman opened his mouth.

"I guess we need to catch up later," Neal said instead of whatever he was going to say.

"Sure. I just need my wallet back," Bryce said, sliding his eyes over to Peter.

"Peter," Neal said in an over-the-top shocked tone, "you took his wallet?"

"I thought he was you!" Peter responded as he pulled the wallet out and handed it back to its owner.

"An understandable mistake," Bryce said, earning a glare from Neal. They both knew how Neal hated it when people mixed them up and how Bryce liked it. It seemed like that hadn't changed over the years apart.

* * *

Neal walked back into the apartment that evening, completely exhausted. And irritated. All anyone at the office was talking about was 'Neal Caffrey's twin brother' and he had spent all day avoiding and answering questions.

"You see, that particular consulate has a hidden tunnel..." Oh no. Neal slammed the door open.

"Bryce!"

"Ahhh!" Mozzie cried, jumping away from the table where Bryce was sitting. "Neal? What the...?"

"He didn't ask my name," Bryce commented with a shrug.

Mozzie shuddered.

"Evil government clone! See, Neal! I told you this would happen!"


	11. BBPN - Bryce Breaks Out Peter and Neal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Guest at Fanfiction.net:  
> "How about Neal and Peter was kidnapped when an investigation went wrong and Byrce have to rescue them"

**Bryce Breaks Out Peter and Neal**

* * *

He had not expected this. Bryce straightened his suit and held his head high. He was playing a rich and important customer of the Matveev Corps.

"Ah, Mister Joan," Matveev's head goon greeted him with open arms and a silly Russian accent. "We have big surprise for you."

"Really?" he responded in an indignant tone. "'Cause all I see are two men in chairs. Couldn't spring for the ladies, huh, Milo?"

"Miloslav," the man corrected. Bryce raised an eyebrow. "Sir."

Bryce just sighed and motioned for the man to get on with it. He was slightly impatient, seeing his twin brother tied to a chair and unconscious was making him nervous. Tied to the other chair was a middle age who was well-built and conscious.

"We caught this rat and his fed." Rat? And a Fed? Bryce wondered what exactly his brother was up to these days that servants of the Matveev family thought that. "And they will provide, how you say, visuals of the tools you will like."

Bryce couldn't help the distasteful frown that appeared on his face.

"You think I do my own dirty work?" he questioned in order to cover up the true reason for the feelings showing on his face. He glared down his nose at Milo and pulled out his gun, cocking it, causing Milo's two other musclemen to back up. "I carry a gun but I really don't want to shoot it." He said, "'cause if I have to shoot it, it means your men failed me!"

The Fed jolted. Bryce silently apologised to the man but, this was his job. He needed to get the tools from Milo so that the CIA could analyse them and possibly figure out where the Matveev Corps were getting their equipment.

"Get the tools," he ordered and when no one moved, added, "well, I'm here, aren't I? Might as well see what you have."

One of the two musclemen left and returned moments later with a silver briefcase. Milo placed it on the table next to the Fed and opened it.

"These, you will like," Milo promised, pulling out something that looked like a large needle.

"I'm sure I will," Bryce responded and, before anyone could react, he shot the man between the eyes. And he followed that up with two shots, one for each of the musclemen.

The Fed cried out from behind his gag.

"Sorry, but they were dangerous men," Bryce informed him as he walked over to Milo's dead body. He picked up the object in his hand and placed it back in the case. "And I don't think you understand exactly how dangerous, if you brought him here." Bryce nodded towards Neal.

"You just shot three men in cold blood," the Fed said as soon as Bryce took off the gag, "you're under arrest."

Bryce raised his eyebrows. Tied to a chair and this man was attempting to arrest him?

"My name is Bryce Larkin," he said as he undid the Fed's ropes. "I'm CIA."

"What?"

Bryce ignored him as he undid the final knot. "There," he said as the ropes fell.

The Fed pulled himself out of the chair and stared at Bryce. Bryce was surprised that the Fed was taller than him as he hadn't looked that way while in the chair.

But, Bryce wasn't interested in playing his power games. Instead of glaring back, he moved on to Neal.

"Did they hurt him?" he asked as his fingers worked the ropes.

"Tranqs," the Fed responded in a suspicious voice, "got us both. We weren't expecting it."

Bryce took the gag from Neal's mouth and his heart stopped in fright for a moment. Except for the shorter hair, it was like staring in a mirror.

He hadn't realised how much he had missed his twin until now.

Bryce reached up and pulled off the blond wig and stick-on moustache he was wearing. He ignored the swears that came out of the Fed's mouth when he revealed his dark hair.

"Neal," he said, giving his twin a wake-up slap. Neal groaned in response but didn't rouse. "Neal!"

"Here, let me," the Fed said, moving over. He pinched Neal's cheek and jiggled it. "Wake up, Caffrey, or I'll draw on your face."

Neal's arm flopped out, weakly knocking Peter's away.

"Go 'way, P'ter."

"Neal, you didn't tell me you had a twin," Peter said, as if Neal was coherent and not trying to go back to sleep. His comment caused Neal's eyes to shoot open.

"What?"

"Neal," Bryce greeted with a nod of his head as he retrieved the suitcase. "And he probably didn't tell you for the same reasons I haven't told anyone in the CIA I have a twin. To protect each other."

"Bryce tends to make a lot of really powerful and dangerous enemies," Neal pointed out, shaking off the last of the tranq.

"You as well," Bryce pointed out. He took a pair of sunglasses from one of the dead musclemen. "Don't think I don't know about Keller."

"Oh," Peter said. Neal smirked.

"You're upset that you never found out," he goaded.

"I'm just wondering how I missed it," Peter responded, "you're identical." How had he missed another Neal Caffrey running around?

Bryce slapped Peter on the back as he walked past, suitcase in hand.

"Alright, let's go."

* * *

Shortly after their rescue, the investigation into Miloslav Orlov was closed. The suspect was found murdered in a warehouse and his death was considered to be a mob hit. The FBI hadn't managed to track Neal and Peter to the warehouse and Neal spun a story of how they escaped which omitted the murders and Bryce's presence.

A few weeks later, just when Peter was putting the events and Neal's mysterious twin behind him, a postcard arrived. It was a simple, bought five minutes before getting onto the plane kind of card and only had two letters written on the back in block letters: BL.


	12. TEO2 & L2 - 2 short follow ups

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From erindolphin91 at Fanfiction.net:
> 
> "I'd love to see a semi follow up of Bryce's receiving Neal's message and perhaps figuring that he ought to visit his brother."
> 
> And from digi-Sarz at Fanfiction.net:
> 
> "Please do another chapter of this I want to see Neal explain this to Mozzie."

**TEO2 - A**   **Favour Repaid**

* * *

Location: A hidden spy base

... under the Burbank Buy More

* * *

Casey didn't want to do this. But, the order had come from General Beckman and was in return for a favour he incurred. It was quiet but that didn't mean he wasn't there. Casey slid his gun into his hand and twisted, only to have it kicked from his hands and a gun pointed in his face.

"Really, Casey?" Bryce asked tilting his head a little as he held the gun steady between Casey's eyes. "Surely you didn't call me here just to try again?"

"Didn't know you were alive until the General informed me," Casey growled out.

"Yeah, I know," Bryce responded, lowing the gun and stepping back. "What do you want?"

Where to start?

"Years ago, I may have gotten into a situation which meant almost death." He had been caught right after shooting a man who he thought was a weapons dealer, in France. The boss was really the man he thought was the second-in-command. And Casey had been a little too slow to shoot him. He was tied up, questioned and about to be shot when a man came to free him. He appeared from the darkness when the weapons dealer left for a moment, his girl calling him away.

And then Larkin had appeared. At least, Casey had thought it was Larkin. The man had been pretending to be one of the dealer's men; looking for a chance to steal the one-of-a-kind jewel necklace the dealer gave his girl. Apparently had had, hence the dealer being called away. He freed Casey and then helped him escape the building.

Larkin's evil twin, the one who conned and stole. And also saved Casey's life, enabling him to kill the real weapons dealer two days later. The General granted the man one favour in return for his act, with some conditions imposed. Larkin's evil twin was a wanted man after all.

"A man saved me and he was offered a favour in return. He called in his favour."

"What does this have to do with me?" Bryce questioned with an uncaring shrug.

"His favour involved letting you know how unhappy he is that he let his brother think he was dead."

Bryce blinked. His arms broke apart from where they were crossed.

"Neal?" he questioned in a quiet voice.

"Your... evil twin," Casey responded, feeling quite proud of himself for shocking Larkin like that. "Currently working for the FBI." Casey gave a snort.

"The FBI? When did that happen?"

"Find out for yourself," Casey responded moving to leave.

Bryce stood there for a few moments. Neal was working with the FBI? Wait; Casey owed Neal a favour? Bryce turned to ask Casey some more questions.

"He lives in New York," Casey informed him without turning around and, a moment later, he was down one of the many tunnels in Castle.

New York was experiencing good weather this time of year... Or so Bryce had heard.

* * *

**L2 - Mozzie is not amused.**

* * *

Mozzie paced the room, wine glass in hand. Every few moments, he stopped and looked over at his old friend.

His old friend... and the Evil Government Clone his friend had neglected to tell him about.

"Bryce is my twin brother," Neal explained, "I never mentioned him because it was unlikely that you'd ever meet him."

Mozzie ignored his friend. It was possible that some suit had altered Neal's memories so he believed that.

"When did they create you?" he asked the clone.

"Same time as Neal," Bryce responded in a calm voice. Mozzie realised that the clone didn't have the conman smile Neal had.

"Neal's not a government clone too, is he?" Mozzie would have noticed if his friend was.

"Not a clone, Moz," Neal said.

"Prove it!"

"Different fingerprints," Bryce said, twinkling his fingers.

"What?" Neal and Mozzie questioned simultaneously.

"If I was a clone, we would have the same fingerprints," Bryce explained.

Mozzie thought about this for a moment.

"Point. Stay here, I'm going to get my fingerprinting kit."

"He has a fingerprinting kit?" Bryce questioned in cheer after Mozzie left.

Neal just glared at his twin in stormy silence.


	13. G - Guess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Syrus07 at Fanfiction.net:  
> "Can you do one with Elizabeth? I feel as though she would have fun with the twins"
> 
> I tried? This isn't so much as fun as it is El being clever.

**Guess**

* * *

 

Elizabeth rarely shopped for herself. Normally, she shopped for her clients or for things for Peter. Today though, she had some free time and some money saved up and was out just looking for something she might like to buy.

It was in a little antique store where she found him.

"Neal!" she called and waved.

"Elizabeth?" Neal was surprised. He glanced around for a few moments and then greeted her with a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Mozzie told me about this place," she explained, "I thought I would check it out."

"Yeah?" Neal questioned. For a moment, she noticed that his gaze focused behind her. "Well, be sure to tell him what you think."

"Neal?" she questioned when he tried to move past her. She wrapped her hand around his wrist to keep him from walking away.

Elizabeth realised something; Neal was up to something. And she was curious to know what.

"I'm looking for a present for Peter," a lie. But, Neal was more likely to do something if it involved Peter. "Would you mind accompanying me?"

"A present?" he questioned curiously, "his birthday's not coming up, neither is your anniversary."

Elizabeth wasn't surprised that Neal knew those dates off by heart. He was probably better at remembering them than Peter.

"I know," she responded with a wink. "I just wanted to get him something special."

"You could always get him a nice suit," Neal suggested happily, "something classy and timeless."

"Neal," she said in a friendly warning tone. They both knew that, even if she did by Peter a nice suit, he wouldn't wear it. Also, it was out of her price range.

"A new tie then," Neal amended, "maybe something in a nice, earthy brown."

"Help me pick?" Neal frowned sadly when she asked, a bit like an actor in a play.

"I can't," he responded, "I've got an appointment that I need to get to. Good luck, though."

* * *

Elizabeth followed Neal out of the shop. As soon as he moved into the crowd, he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Peter had taught her how to spot a tail or stalker and she employed those methods to follow Neal. She stayed a good distance behind him, with people between them and used windows and her knowledge of this area to interpret and predict his movements.

Neal's posture was tense, the hand not holding the phone held close to his body and not moving. If he had been one of her clients, she would have given him a quick progress report and scheduled a chance to talk later because he looked like he needed to be somewhere else.

She was starting to believe that he really did have an appointment when he turned down an alleyway. It was suspicious as she couldn't think of any legal reasons why Neal would need to go down that alleyway.

And then he popped back out.

"Elizabeth!" he said in a shocked and cheery tone, "are you following me?"

Elizabeth froze. Neal's whole demeanour had changed. This was the kind of client who you met at a restaurant for a business lunch because they were relaxed but distant.

"There's this little shoe shop up ahead that I like to visit," she explained, responding to his question not answering it. Thank goodness she knew this area so well.

"Oh, were you going to check it out?" he asked.

"I was thinking about it," she responded, realising that something was certainly going on. If it wasn't for his identical appearance, she would almost think she was talking to a different person. Neal was a conman but, certain not a conman would be this good at changing characters in an instant. Besides, what reason was there for him to put an act on in front of her?

While staring at him, she had a sudden thought; 'maybe he should think about cutting his hair, it's getting long', and realisation that his hair hadn't been that long when she spotted him in the store.

The suspicious feeling increased and she just had to make sure. She looked down the alleyway. It was empty of everything except a few bins and a dead end with a wall of ivy growing over the dead end.

"Elizabeth?" he questioned as she took a step into the cool shade. It looked empty but she could see plenty of hiding spots.

When she was young, Elizabeth was one of those children who believed in monsters under her bed. And not just under her bed. One of the boys at school had told her about monsters that lived in any gap or hidey-hole in her bedroom. She went through a phase where she had to check every single drawer, her closet and every little gap she knew of in her room herself otherwise she couldn't sleep.

Elizabeth did the same now. She walked down the alley and checked inside the bins. It was irrational, some part of her knew that, and she didn't know what she was trying to find. But, she was suspicious and it was almost like her childhood fears had returned.

Plus, it would really hurt Peter if Neal was doing something illegal in this alley and someone found out about it later and she missed it. It would be better to find out now and have a chance to help Neal rather than wait until he was in too deep for them to help.

"Elizabeth? You okay?" he said, sounding worried. He grabbed her wrist to keep her from going in any further than past the bins.

"I'm fine, Neal," she responded, "I thought I heard something. Maybe a cat. If it's injured, it'll need help." She lied quickly and just spun something that sounded legit as she tried to pull herself from Neal's grasp.

His grip was tight and he didn't budge.

"Let me go," she ordered, "or I'll call Peter."

Neal backed off. He raised his hands in a 'no-weapons' position. Elizabeth stepped back.

"Look, I didn't mean to scare you," he was saying. She wasn't really paying attention though. Her gaze slid to the ground behind the bins, an area not visible from the street.

* * *

"So, who are you?" she asked the man standing between her and the street.

He paused in shock for a moment.

"I told you she was smart," Neal said, standing up from his hiding spot behind the bin. "That's Bryce Larkin, my twin."

"Neal?" Bryce squeaked in surprise.

"Look, she can keep a secret," Neal explained, "and you're the one who wanted to play 'guess the twin' with her."

Bryce frowned.

As Elizabeth watched this exchange, her surprise faded slightly and was replaced with happiness. Peter had always wondered about Neal's family and now she had an answer standing right in front of her.

"So, you're visiting your brother?" she asked Bryce. Now that she knew who he was, she was okay with moving closer to him.

"Something like that," Bryce responded. His speech was similar to Neal but his tone was more serious. She much preferred him like this than when he was laying on the 'Caffrey charm'.

"I hope you're not a thief too." Peter would be horrified. And as much fun as it was to imagine his reaction to another criminal Caffrey, she didn't think another three years of chasing a Caffrey around the globe was worth it.

"God forbid, no," Bryce responded, "I'm a, well, Danny calls me a fed. I think he means it as an insult."

Neal shrugged. Bryce was a federal agent so he called him a 'fed' when he was annoyed with his twin.

"And you call me 'Danny'," he responded, "I think that makes us even."

Elizabeth held up her hand to stop the sibling fight she could see brewing. She had so many questions.

"Neal, do you really have an appointment?" she asked him.

"No," he responded in a suspicious tone.

"Then you and your brother can join me for lunch," she said with a cheeky smile. "I think I'll look good with a Caffrey on each arm, don't you think?" Her first question was so going to be about why Bryce didn't go by 'Caffrey'.

Neal laughed and threaded his arm through hers.

"What do you think, Bryce?" he asked, holding out a hand to his brother. "You can get to know her as yourself."

"No questions about my job and I'm in," Bryce responded.


	14. SU - Shoot 'em Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From ImanArchAngel at Fanfiction.net:
> 
> "Oh poor casey. You should have a chapter either they bug casey together or kick Daniel shaw butt."
> 
> I used a bit of, what the Internet tells me is, Aussie slang in here (the spell checker for the site I type these in didn't recognise it as a word).
> 
> However, it's the best word that fit so I didn't want to change it. So, I'm providing a definition:
> 
> Dob: (verb)
> 
> (slang, chiefly Australia) To nominate a person, often in their absence, for an unpleasant task.

**Shoot 'em Up**

* * *

Casey smiled as he fired the gun into the target. Again and again and again. He fired until there was an array of holes in the middle of the target. Most were arranged in the centre but there were a few outlying shots where he had fired of a shot too quickly after the previous.

"And that's how it's done," he smirked to Larkin, who had a few shot end up in the outer circle.

Bryce looked at his result and shrugged.

"You're not the best shot I know," he said.

"What?" Casey growled in query. Chuck could possibly shoot better than him but the man used his Intersect skills to make the shot so he didn't count.

"I know someone better."

* * *

Neal sighed as he pulled on the goggles and earmuffs.

"Do I have to do this?" he asked. The cocking of a gun was his response. Casey pointed the gun at Neal's lung, so he would survive if shot. But that didn't mean that it wouldn't be painful.

Neal really hated guns. The weight in his hand was different to a paintbrush. He could almost feel the metal sinking into his skin, tainting him.

"You can do it," Bryce said from Neal's other side.

"This is your fault," Neal responded in a grumpy tone before turning to the target. Bryce had been the one to dob Neal in as a perfect shot. Neal had spent most of his teenage years learning about guns, how they worked, how to look after them and how to fire them. He spent years practising with guns while Bryce ran track until shooting was almost like breathing. His hand-eye coordination was excellent and had only improved through his years of forging, lock picking and sketching.

Neal could shoot a gun... and he never missed.

"Ready?" Bryce asked and Neal moved into position.

He fired at the target, again and again and again. His breathing evened out, his mind emptied and he let himself feel the rush as his bullets hit the target in the certain again and again. The cluster of holes was condensed in the centre of the target with not a single one out of place.

"What the...?" Casey rumbled beside him once the gun went silent.

"Are we done?" Neal responded, feeling his energy drain out of him. He placed the gun down and didn't even glance at the target. All he could think about was about the kind of damage he could have caused if that target had been a human. His research as a teenager had also told him that, sometimes in disturbing detail.

Casey gave an inquisitive and approving grunt.

"We could use a shot like you," he responded.

"Neal doesn't use guns," Bryce responded instantly, for which Neal was grateful. He had been worried that Bryce would use this as an opportunity to convince him to at least carry a gun for protection. "Best case scenario, you end up with a tranq user like Chuck."

Casey made a more discontent grunt.

"Fine."

"So, what did I win for Bryce?" Neal asked him. He knew there was no way Bryce and Casey would have flown to New York and asked him to shoot if there hadn't been a bet going.

"New Xbox?" Bryce responded in a hesitant tone.

"Bryce," Neal sighed, "where are you going to put it?"

"My house," Casey responded, "he reckons I can protect the stupid thing from anyone who might mean it harm, whatever that means."

"It means, don't let Chuck modify it or Morgan play it," Bryce explained, "and you could buy one for Neal too."

"No thank you," Neal responded without pause, "just get me some good wine or something."

"You sure you don't want a day out of anklet or something?" Bryce suggested.

Neal immediately perked up but, before he could ask, Casey disallowed the suggestion with a simply stated no.

"Wine it is then," Neal responded, deflating.


	15. TS2 - Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From K:  
> "Is there any chance you might write more of the spy twins on your 'Spies vs Cons'? I'd love to see them trying to explain their jobs (and each other) to either Mozzie or Peter or Sara(h), or possibly all four."
> 
> So, a second instalment of the Twin Spies universe. In this one, Neal's also a CIA agent and Neal Caffrey is his active cover. In order to get his friends' assistance to set something right, Neal has to explain some of his secrets.

**Preparations**

* * *

Neal ran a hand through his hair and tried to figure out how to explain this. He was under orders to do so, so there was no getting out of it but, he had no idea how to breach the subject.

"Come on, Neal," Sara said as her finger stilled after tapping a waiting rhythm onto the table for the past few minutes. "You called us for a reason, what is it?"

When Neal didn't respond, Mozzie spoke;

"Neal, I'm sitting in the middle of Fed Central because you said you had something to say and could only say it here."

"Yes, and thank you for coming, Moz." Neal meant it too, even if the little man looked ridiculous in his brown shaggy wig, sunglasses and fisherman's hat.

"Just Moz?" Peter questioned in amusement, quirking an eyebrow.

"Well, thank you all for coming," Neal said. This he could say easily. "I know my request was a little strange," Sara snorted and Mozzie barked 'hah!', "Okay, really strange. But I have a reason."

"We guessed as much," Sara responded.

"Neal? Are you okay?" Peter asked, "you don't normally have trouble saying whatever you want."

"Ouch, Peter," Neal joked, holding a hand over his heart and he added theatrically, "you wound me."

"The Suit's right," Mozzie said, "should I be checking you for signs of external control? Brain parasites, maybe?"

"No thank you, Moz" Neal responded in a sigh. He had to tell them eventually, so he silently told himself to 'cowboy up'. He had a mission. "Sara," he turned to her, "you recently recovered a gemstone box and I need you to hand it over to me."

"Neal?" Peter questioned in a confused tone.

"Is this a hold-up of some kind?" Sara demanded to know.

Mozzie sat back silently and watched them.

"That box is worth millions and recovering it is a huge win for Sterling Bosh!" Sara said, shooting out of her chair. "I'm not handing it over to anyone."

"Please, just listen," Neal said, holding up his hands and motioning for her to calm down. "That box contains a rare, well; I guess you'd call it a battery."

"What?" she questioned in a confused tone.

"You haven't been able to get it open, correct?" She nodded. "That's because it only opens when a specific tone is played. The battery inside is used to power a device known as "The Narcissus"."

"Wait, that new weapon that's making waves on the black market?" Mozzie questioned, drawing all the attention. "The one that's supposed to paralyse all targets within range?"

Neal nodded. He was surprised but, Mozzie had already shown that he had access to high-level information just through his black markets businesses. And the device was making waves.

"It was originally developed in order to stop riots without harming anyone," Neal explained, "but, it was stolen and sold on the black market. Sara, the person you recovered that box for is the fence for the device. The person you recovered it from is a CIA agent." Which was impressive but, the agent would have shot her if they didn't recognise her from Neal's descriptions back when they were partnered together in 2005. Thankfully, they did and they contacted Neal in order to handle it.

"And how do you know this?" she demanded to know with her head held high and her arms crossed against her stomach. A moment later she backtracked and said, "doesn't matter. I'm not handing it over to a felon."

"Harsh," Mozzie commented.

"She has a point though," Peter said. He turned to Neal. "And there's something you haven't told us."

Neal smiled, his head tilted towards the ground as he shook his head. Of course Peter would notice.

"You won't be handing the box over to Neal Caffrey, convicted bond forger and confidence man." He paused for a moment before adding, "you'll be handing it over to Danny Larkin, CIA agent." He didn't know if they would figure it out from just that but, his heart was thudding all the same.

"Who?" Sara questioned.

"You, isn't it?" Mozzie questioned. Neal's silence was all the answer he needed. "You have an unholy alliance with dark side."

"Neal's a CIA agent?" Peter questioned in disbelief. He glanced between Mozzie and Neal as if one of them was going to announce that it was a joke. "The CIA doesn't hire criminals."

"No," Neal responded, "but they do create them sometimes. And I was with the CIA before I came to New York."

Sara's mouth had dropped open slightly as she tried to process this. She reminisced over the time she had chased him and the times when they were together. There hadn't been any hints in Neal's behaviour that he was a, her mind stumbled over the words, federal agent.

* * *

Neal could see that his friends were having trouble with this. Peter was staring at him curiously and his eyes were darting to the wall of his office, no doubt he wanted to get on the computers to look into Danny Larkin's existence.

Mozzie had frozen entirely and he was staring at the wall in front of him, not even looking at Neal.

Neal wished he was done with this. But, he was only getting started.

"I'm sorry I never told you before now," he said, "but, it was important that I keep the secret."

"That's understandable," Mozzie, of all people, was the one who said that, snapping out of his daze as Neal spoke. "You probably have many enemies who would be willing to hurt us for information."

Neal nodded stiffly. This was not the reaction he had expected out of his bespectacled friend. He worked for 'the man' and really expected Mozzie to denounce him on the spot.

"Mozzie?" Sara questioned, just as confused.

"You believe him?" Peter asked and then paused as he thought about what he said. He sighed. "Of course you do."

"There have been things that never added up," Mozzie explained. He gave Neal and apologetic glance. "No offence. So I had hints that Neal might not be all con."

"Or the best con you ever met," Neal responded automatically, not really ready to give away his titles of conman and thief. But, he was willing to give up his 'felon' title, at least in front of these three. So he pulled out his CIA badge and passed it to Peter.

"Huh," was all Peter could say.

Neal gave them another few moments to absorb this. Sara seemed to have moved from stunned to slightly interested while Peter seemed to be adjusting now that he had the CIA badge to analyse.

"There's more," he hesitantly added.

"What could top this?" Peter questioned rhetorically, knowing he would find out in a few moments.

"Oh, are you going to take us to your spy base?" Mozzie asked, "are we going to see your spy gadgets? _Do you have an evil plot to undercover?_ "

"No, no and not really."

"'Not really'?" Sara questioned.

"See, um," Neal sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "The box was supposed to be delivered to another agent, who was going to take it to be analysed. He's kind of mad that you stole it."

"I didn't steal it!" Sara defended herself, "I was doing my job! Maybe this agent should have stepped forward instead of sending you." She grumbled that last part but Neal heard her.

"He couldn't," Neal responded, "not without me explaining some of this to you. 'Cause, his name is Bryce Larkin." Pause. Now, he expected Mozzie to get it.

"Any relation to 'Danny Larkin'?" But, no; Peter asked. He seemed quite interested in all this, sitting back and listening to the secrets of Neal's hidden life. He also knew he would ask questions later, maybe while Neal digs into an El cooked meal.

"He's my brother," Neal said, "my, uh, identical twin brother."

A look of understanding dawned on Sara's face. Bryce wouldn't have been able to go into Sterling Bosh and interfere in one of their investigations without putting Neal in danger. And no one would work with someone who looked like Neal Caffrey.

"So, the plan," Neal said quickly, to distract, "Sara'll bring the box to this office and Peter will witness her handing it over to Bryce Larkin, I'll be playing him and you're still handing it over to an agent."

Sara gave an incredulous snort.

"Why am I here?" Mozzie asked.

"Well, for one, I didn't want to tell Peter without telling you," Neal said, "and, two, I need you to be the courier and get the box to Bryce. You're the only one who can do the drop without exposure."

Peter and Sara both stared at Mozzie, uncertainly.

"Can I send him a box with a sonnet inside?" he asked excitedly.

"I can only give you a mobile number," Neal responded, knowing exactly where this would go.

"Okay, a text which contains encoded coordinates which lead to a box with a sonnet inside. The sonnet-"

"Okay, Moz," Neal responded, mentally apologising to Bryce. He didn't think his twin would appreciate Mozzie's quirks. "Don't tell us everything, it needs to be secret."

Mozzie closed his mouth and nodded. Sara took one look at him and sighed.

"Fine. When do we do this?"

A few days later, there was a knock at the Burkes' back door. Elizabeth was surprise but Peter wasn't. He got up and opened the door, letting Sara and Mozzie in.

"You wouldn't believe what he made me do!" Sara complained.

"Did you get the photos?" Peter asked as Elizabeth wandered curiously over to them.

Mozzie nodded and pulled the photos out of his pocket.

"Mozzie didn't miss a thing," Sara explained, "I assume you kept Neal busy?"

Peter nodded as he picked up one of the pictures. He had kept Neal with him throughout the day so that Sara and Mozzie could stake out the drop site for the box and get pictures of Neal's twin.

The person in it looked like Neal; the same dark hair, blue eyes and slender but strong body shape. He was wearing a white button up shirt with black pants and a gray tie; it looked like a uniform.

"Why is Neal wearing a Nerd Herd outfit?" Elizabeth asked.

"Remember when I told you Neal had a twin?" Peter said, holding up one of the pictures.

Elizabeth gasped.

"This is him? They're-"

"Identical," Sara and Mozzie said together. Sara added, "which was more of a shock than the fact that Neal's a spy."

"You find it shocking," Mozzie said, "spies are part of everyday life. That's why you need to-"

"Watch out for the guys who install your wide-screen TV?" Peter jokingly finished.

"You laugh now," Mozzie countered pointing a threatening finger at the Suit. "But, it's a cover for intelligence gathering."

"I doubt there's a group of spies working in the Nerd Herd," Sara commented.

Mozzie frowned and pursed his lips.

"Don't worry, Mozzie," Elizabeth said in a supporting tone, "we'll be careful."

"Good." Mozzie nodded at Mrs. Suit.


	16. TEO3 – Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From KMW1968:
> 
> "A follow up for TEO2. Bryce, having received the message and decided to go to New York, calls in at the FBI office to see Neal. Neal gives him an earful and then a hug and the members of the White Collar division are interested spectators."

**TEO3 – Reunion**

* * *

 

By now, most of the agents in the New York FBI building had heard about the events in the White Collar Conference room where Neal revealed he was a twin. But, it was one thing to hear about it and another thing entirely to see it.

The agents Bryce passed thought that Caffrey had dressed down, or maybe he was reporting in while undercover for some reason; either way, he was Peter Burke's problem. Those agents who treated Neal without sneers or pokes at his past and sometimes exchanged daily greetings with him noticed something was off. He didn't smile at them the way he usually did. His expression was tense, almost like an agents' while on the job, and when he did smile, it was a tentative expression.

Honestly, no one really caught on until the elevator stopped at floor 21 and Bryce got off. Because of the large glass doors those in the office could see him and Neal, who was sitting at his desk going through the day's paperwork, at the same time.

"That's," Diana gasped in shock before hightailing it towards Neal's desk. "Neal!"

Neal looked up the moment Bryce walked through the doors. He dropped his pen. A bunch of papers blew off his desk, but he didn't notice. He almost seemed to forget where he was and the amount of attention focused on them.

"Bryce?" Neal asked with his voice sounding slightly chocked up. An expression that none of the agents had seen in the office crossed his face. It was something like gratitude with a little bit of hope.

Bryce smiled an honest smile and held his arms out, letting Neal see that he was okay.

"So, which death am I apologising for?" he asked jokingly.

Neal stood up and walked around the desk so that he was facing his twin.

"The deaths aren't the problem," he said in an angry tone, "the 'not letting me know you're alive' is!"

"You've faked your death too," Bryce countered.

"And I contacted you after every single one. I didn't let you find out through a tiny little paragraph in a newspaper or through Chuck! Does Chuck even know you're still alive?"

"Chuck contacted you?"

"Yes. He contacted me when he found you alive and he contacted me when you died again. He cried and apologised for not being able to do anything!" Neal voice was strong and angry. He jabbed a finger into Bryce's chest as he spoke about Chuck. "He contacted me because he felt I needed to know. Because we're family."

"There were circumstances," Bryce tried to say.

"Bryce, let me clarify," Neal interrupted sternly, "you do not let me think you're dead when you're not. Ever. Later, you're going to talk to Mozzie about setting up some failsafes and methods of contact so you can let me know you're okay. Now, we're going to hug because I need to assure myself that you're okay."

Bryce nodded and smiled as Neal wrapped his arms around him. They hugged tightly for a moment, both bathing in the presence of the other and enjoying the warmth of family.

"Aww," a few agents, both male and female, cooed.

"Caffrey scolding someone for not thinking about the impact of their actions on others?" Jones questioned in disbelief, "now I've seen everything."

"Nah," Peter hummed in partial agreement, seeming to appear out of nowhere with a coffee in his hand. Last time anyone checked, he had been in his office. "You heard Neal; he contacted Bryce after every one." And whatever method of contact he had, it was good enough that they hadn't caught onto it.

"So, you're 'Agent Larkin'," Diana commented to Bryce once the brothers ended their hug. "Who do you work for?"

Bryce smirked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he responded.

"I have his badge."

Neal held up the black wallet, the shield on the front hidden in the palm of his hand. Bryce quickly checked his pockets before glaring at Neal.

"Give it back."

"Nope."

"Neal!"

"Neal!" The second one was an order from Peter, who stalked forward. "This is an office, not a playground. Give your twin back his badge."

Neal pouted but handed the badge back to Bryce.

"Uh, thanks?" Bryce responded. He was surprised that his brother listened to this agent without complaint.

And the following conversation, slightly baffling to Bryce, was spoken in friendly tones with smiles;

"Hey, Peter-" Neal's voice took on the tone he always had when asking for something.

"No."

"But I didn't-"

"You can't take the rest of the day off just because your brother is in town."

"That's not what I was going to ask."

"What were you going to ask then?" A raised eyebrow.

Neal's reply stumbled for a moment, "uh, can I have an early lunch?"

"One hour. I'll be checking your tracking data." Peter nodded to Bryce. "Nice to meet you, uh."

"Bryce," he said, shaking Peter's hand. "And you are?"

"Special Agent Peter Burke. I'm Neal's handler."

Bryce turned back to Neal, who was looking the other way. Having seen the exchange between Peter and Neal, Bryce realised something. His twin liked working here.


	17. L3 - Dinner at the Burkes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From KMW1968:
> 
> "A follow up for L2. After finally convincing Mozzie that Bryce is Neal's twin not his clone, Neal gets a phone call from Peter. Peter has told Elizabeth about Bryce and Elizabeth wants to meet him. The twins are invited to the Burkes for dinner. During dinner, Bryce asks what Neal has been up to, tut-tuts and says with a smile "Surely, as the elder brother, you should have been setting a better example". Bryce would also refer to the story of the two of them as toddlers breaking out of their cots (a story they would have heard their mother tell, rather than remember it themselves). Peter would be very amused and Elizabeth would be delighted at the adorable mental picture."

**L3 -**   **Dinner at the Burkes**

* * *

Neal's phone rang as Mozzie placed the paper with Bryce's fingerprints onto the table, seemly content.

"Hey Neal," Peter said, "I, uh, just wanted to apologise for today."

"Apologise?" Neal questioned as he didn't think that Peter did anything he needed to apologise for.

"Yeah." There was a pause on the other end as Elizabeth said something in the background. "And invite you and your brother to dinner, tonight."

Neal's first instinct was to say no. Peter was certain to grill Bryce about their past and there were things he wasn't ready for the agent to know. But, as he glanced at his brother who was now describing the hidden consulate tunnel and decided to pick the lesser of the two evils before Mozzie had enough information to cause an international incident.

"Sure," he said casually, "what time?"

* * *

Elizabeth seemed to bounce as she prepared dinner. Peter was happy that his wife was happy but he was still feeling the raincloud of embarrassment and wretchedness that came with accusing a mostly innocent person.

"Shouldn't we leave them alone?" he asked, his inexperience and awkwardness with anything beyond the basic social conventions showing, "Neal hasn't seen his brother in years and we're asking them to spend their evening with us?"

"That's exactly why they should spend their evening with us," Elizabeth said, "they've been apart so long that they might have trouble reconnecting."

Peter thought about the two. They were almost exactly alike and he had only been able to tell them apart when they were standing right next to each other. Would it really be that hard for two identical people to reconnect?

Then again, Neal had agreed to dinner quickly and easily. There had been no cajoling on either side.

"Maybe you're right," he said to his wife. She kissed him on the forehead just as there was a knock at the door.

"Of course I am," she responded, "now you go answer that."

At the door were Neal and Bryce, dressed similarly in fine short sleeved shirts and dark jeans. Neal had on a black shirt while Bryce was wearing something in a dark purple.

"Neal, Bryce," Peter greeted with a nod.

"Lovely to see you again, Agent Burke," Bryce greeted in a less-than-pleased tone.

Peter cowed under the weight of his tone and the guilt he was already carrying.

"Be nice," Neal hissed to Bryce before turning to Peter. "El's in the kitchen, right?" And without waiting for an answer, he added, "I'll go see if she needs any help." He moved past Peter and into the house with familiarity.

Peter stared at Bryce for a few moments before remembering to invite him in.

"Uh, look, about today-"

"It's fine," Bryce said, "Neal explained that you're generally suspicious of him and that you didn't know about me. I probably would have done the same thing in your shoes." Even so, Bryce still thought of him as the dim-witted FBI agent. He generally didn't like the FBI as a rule; and not because they arrested Neal since he only found that out today, but because a great many of them had an inflated sense of their importance and impaired ethics even though they protected less and risked less than a CIA agent.

"I should still apologise," Peter said, "since I was in the wrong."

Bryce was stunned by this for a moment; since when did FBI agents apologise for doing their job?, but he shrugged and walked inside. The Burkes had a simple but finely furnished place. He didn't make it far inside before a lovely brunette with long hair and sparkling blue eyes appeared.

"Wow," she commented, freezing right in front of him.

"Wow, yourself," he responded looking her up and down. "How did Agent Burke manage to catch you?"

She giggled and he ignored the look Neal shot him and the feeling of Peter glaring at him from behind.

"Do you really want to know?" she teased. He nodded. "We'll talk over dinner then, come on."

Peter edged close to Neal as Elizabeth and Bryce moved to sit down.

"Was he hitting on my wife?" he demanded to know in a quiet whisper.

"No," Neal responded, "at least I don't think so. He was good with boundaries, wouldn't touch a girl if she had a boyfriend back in high school."

"And how long ago was that?" Peter questioned.

Neal just smiled secretively.

* * *

Bryce and Neal sat across from Elizabeth and Peter respectively. Elizabeth told Bryce the story of how she and Peter met while Peter and Neal quietly listened.

"So, what's Neal been up to?" he asked, "how does a felon end up working for the FBI?"

Neal froze as he asked that and Elizabeth gave him a compassionate look.

"I'm not the best one to ask about that," she said, turning to her husband. "Peter was the one to make the deal with him."

"Neal broke out of prison for a girl," Peter responded between mouthfuls. "Earned himself four more years for that stunt."

Bryce raised an eyebrow and glanced at Neal, who was admiring his meal in order to keep himself distant from the conversation.

"What'd he do to get into prison in the first place?" Bryce asked, turning back to Peter.

"He forged unforgeable bonds," Peter responded with a glance at Neal.

"That's all?" Bryce asked.

"He's a suspect in several other crimes, but you don't need to hear the details."

"He sent champagne to a surveillance van," Elizabeth said, humorously, "and gave my husband many sleepless nights with his antics."

Bryce snorted and Neal cracked a real smile.

"Crimes!" Peter protested, "they were crimes, El!"

"I have to protest as well," Neal said to Elizabeth, "my alleged actions are far too impressive to be referred to as simple 'antics'."

'Impressive,' Peter mouthed, mocking-like, in frustration at his CI's perspective on his actions.

"Surely, as the elder brother, you should have been setting a better example," Bryce said with a smile and a 'tut-tut'. It wasn't until later that he realised his statement was somewhat in agreement with the Fed's position on Neal's alleged actions.

"I'm not the one who was breaking out of his cot before he could walk properly," Neal retorted.

"Yeah, you are. Mum said we both did that."

"Oh yeah. Almost drove her crazy."

"I can imagine that," Peter said in good-natured agreement. Neal gave him a friendly glare in return.

"So, you both were baby escape artists?" Elizabeth questioned in a delighted tone. "No wonder it took Peter three years to catch Neal."

"Precocious brat," Peter teased Neal.

"Comes in handy with the job," Bryce and Neal commented in unison with the same smug expression. They froze and then stared at each other in surprise as Elizabeth giggled and Peter snorted while trying not to laugh.


	18. NGAI - Neal Gets An Intersect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From KMW1968:
> 
> "Another idea would be to turn the start of "Chuck vs the FBI" on its head. Neal is the one who accidentally downloads an Intersect out of curiosity. Bryce is sent in as his CIA handler. He would not be replacing Peter – Peter would remain Neal's FBI handler. Bryce himself has an Intersect – the 2.0. Neal's Intersect is different; it overlaps with the 2.0, but is not the same. The title of this might be "Neal Gets An Intersect" or NGAI."
> 
> This is my attempt to condense something which could be multi-chaptered into a one-shot. Also "Chuck vs the FBI" is on Fanfiction.net

**NGAI - Neal Gets An Intersect**

* * *

Peter and Neal stood side-by-side as they surveyed the completely white room.

"Any idea what he might have been doing with this?" Peter asked as he motioned at the room, specifically at the old-looking computer terminal in the centre.

"No idea," Neal responded with a nonchalant shrug. "I do forgeries, not computers." And this, this was just weird. What use could a mostly empty room have? But, that wasn't his problem. It was Jones who would have fun figuring it all out. "Since we caught Micah with the stolen painting, want to go get a coffee?" he asked, pointing his black fedora hat towards the exit of Micah's apartment. "Something good and not the office mud."

Peter looked over the room one final time before he sighed.

"I'll go see if Diana and Jones are finished here," he said, "meet you outside?"

"Yeah," Neal responded with a nod as Peter left. Without Peter there, curiosity won out and Neal found himself walking around the room once again, trying to figure out what Micah had to gain from this.

He eventually found his way to the terminal in the middle of the room. It was an old-looking computer and the screen was completely black, except for white words in the centre: 'Begin Program Y/N'.

Neal pressed the Y-key.

* * *

Neal was taking too long. Peter met with Jones and then Diana before rushing back to the room, praying his consultant hadn't done anything stupid.

The door to the room was open and Neal was lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Neal!" Please let him be unconscious, Peter prayed as he bolted to his partner's side. He placed his hand on his neck and sighed with relief as he felt a pulse. "Neal!"

Neal's eyes blinked open and he groaned.

"Peter?" he questioned in confusion.

"You okay?" Peter asked, helping him to stand.

"Yeah," he responded in a breathy nod. "Fine."

"'Fine', fine or 'I don't want to worry you', fine?"

Neal smirked and pushed Peter away as he waltzed to the door.

"Fine, fine," he responded with a flourish as he placed his hat back on his head.

* * *

Neal flashed a few times before the CIA turned up at the FBI. It had worried him, if only for the loss of control the first time it happened; he had blurted out the details of a secret government operation to Mozzie who, thankfully, just thought he had been playing along with his conspiracy theory for once. He worked to keep the information secret after that, clenching his jaw shut every time he felt the whine and disassociation of a Flash.

The CIA tested him and then explained to both him and Peter about what was happening.

"It's called an Intersect and you're only one of two people who can control this," the agent praised, "it would be a great help if you came and worked with us."

Neal felt sick when he heard that. Work with the CIA?

"No."

"You would be doing your country a great service-"

"No," he repeated sternly.

"We would even be willing to commute your sentence-"

"Weren't you listening?" Neal yelled, slamming his hands on the table. "No!"

"Neal," Peter warned in a caring tone, placing a hand on his shoulder. "They might be able to help you."

"That's right," the agent agreed, smiling widely. It was a conman's smile and Neal knew that, he could see through it.

"I don't care," he spat, "I'm not going to work with the CIA, ever!"

He stormed out of the room, leaving the agents all in shock. Not that he cared; maybe they would get the hint. He wasn't going to work for the organisation that killed Bryce, never ever.

* * *

They came back a few days later, after working a deal with the FBI higher ups to transfer Neal's work release contract to the CIA.

Neal handcuffed himself to the Conference room desk and refused to leave.

"Caffrey, you don't get a choice," Hughes tried to explain, "it's over our heads."

"Neal, you're acting like a child," Peter reprimanded him quietly, "you'll go for a few weeks, learn how the thing in your head works and then come back."

"No," Neal responded loudly and then, in a hushed voice to Peter, "you don't know that. Do you know how easy it would be for them to make me vanish? You'd never find me." He was speaking from experience. The CIA was very good at keeping their people from being found. Neal hadn't just been searching for Kate, back during his crime spree. He had also been searching for Bryce. He had been searching for Bryce since his twin had graduated from Stanford and then dropped off the map. He had managed to find and meet Bryce a few times, with Mozzie's help, but lost contact with him after every time. It hadn't helped that Bryce hadn't wanted him involved and wouldn't let Mozzie set them up with secret communications.

"Mr. Caffrey," the agent said in a stern voice, "unless you want to be transported like a criminal, you will come with us now."

"I don't think so." All eyes turned to the door where Bryce Larkin stood, gun in hand. He had been the one to speak, not Neal.

"Bryce?" Neal was the only one to recognise him but, the agent recognised the name.

"Bryce Larkin," the agent repeated, moving for their gun. Bryce shot them with a tranq before they reached it.

As the shock wore off the FBI agents, Bryce pulled out his badge and held it up.

"Bryce Larkin, CIA. I'm here to be Neal's handler."

* * *

"I thought you were dead!" Neal yelled at Bryce as he paced the floor of the conference room. Bryce just shrugged.

* * *

"So, identical twin?" Diana questioned, glancing over at Bryce who was sitting up in Peter's office and chatting. Bryce had insisted on getting to know Neal's FBI handler so they could all work together.

Neal just groaned in dismay, his head resting on his desk.

* * *

"You have an Intersect too?" Peter questioned Bryce, mentally cataloguing the differences and similarities between the two twins.

"The Intersect 2.0," Bryce confirmed, "it contains information and skills."

"We were told that only two other people besides Neal can control it."

"The agent from before wasn't aware that I'm alive. Their tests seem to indicate that Neal has a similar Intersect to the 2.0 but there are some differences."

"And those are?" Peter asked, ignoring the headache beginning to make itself at home in his head. He wasn't built for this; never imagined that the government was able to put information, let alone skills, in someone's head.

"Neal's Intersect contains up-to-date information that mine does not possess, in addition, the Intersect has been found to work differently depending on the host. The way it connects information is influenced by the person who has it and the CIA is very interested in seeing what it can do in the head of a renowned conman."

"What about you?" Peter wondered if Bryce was only interested in the Intersect. If he was, it meant that Peter would be protecting Neal all by himself and he didn't think he would be able to do that. Not now, when the CIA had their eye on him.

Thankfully, it seemed he hadn't misjudged Bryce the way he had the other agent.

"I want to protect Neal. There's no one else in the CIA that I trust to be his handler."

* * *

"Hey, Moz."

"Neal."

"Mozzie."

"Anti-Neal. Is this a social visit or is this in response to the conspiracy that has us believe that the government is storing its information in its citizens?"

"I'm Neal's CIA handler."

"He's moving in."

"Ah. Might I suggest the room down the hall?"

* * *

The FBI had a training facility on site. Because of the agreement between the CIA and the FBI, Bryce was able to use the facility for training Neal.

Neal, dressed in sweatpants and singlet in the middle of the workday, was not as happy about this as Bryce was. Bryce stood across from him in a similar outfit with his hands held up in fists, ready to fight.

"Ready?" Bryce questioned. When Neal just stood there, hands at his side, he decided to just get on with it. Neal needed to get used to fighting; to using the Intersect for its skills and not just its information.

"Can't we talk about this?" Neal said, quickly dodging Bryce's first punch. He flashed the moment the punch passed him and tried to resist his new reflexes which wanted to toss Bryce to the ground.

"Neal, you need to be able to do this," Bryce reminded him, throwing another punch. "You can't hurt me."

"Fine," Neal grumbled and he stopped resisting. Maybe if he beat Bryce up using the Intersect, he'd stop talking about him fighting.

Neal grabbed Bryce's wrist and moved to throw him, Bryce went with the flow and rolled as he landed and jumped back up onto his feet.

"Good," he said. Moving to attack again. This time he kicked and Neal blocked before throwing his own punch which Bryce twirled out of the way off. Using his momentum, Bryce twisted to the ground and swept Neal's leg.

Neal flipped back.

"Whoa," he gasped as he landed.

Bryce just smirked and moved to attack again. They kept going until Peter came to collect Neal.

Peter raised an eyebrow as Neal executed a flip over one of Bryce's kicks.

"Show off," he commented, alerting the brothers to his presence. "Come on, Neal, get dressed; we have a new case."

Neal smirked back and wiped his face with a towel before heading to the lockers where he had, unhappily, stored his suit when he arrived.

"What kind of case?" he called out to Peter.

"Jewellery theft," Peter responded. In response to Neal's happy little cheer, he added, "thought you might like it." He then turned to Bryce, who was content to stand there with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. "You want to come?"

Bryce snorted.

"To look at jewellery? No, thank you. I'm going to see if the CIA has any missions and maybe hit the gun range."

"I'll call you if he flashes on anything." Peter had quickly learnt to tell when Neal was 'flashing', especially since Neal had taken to hiding his flashes even from Bryce.

Bryce nodded his thanks.


	19. E - Exchange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Huntress79:
> 
> "Bryce shows up at Neal's place, unexpected, and wants to take refuge for just some days. Neal and Mozzie suspect there's more to that than meets the eye, but keep silent. The next day, an avalanche of chaos ensues when Neal, mistaken for Bryce, gets picked up by Sarah Walker and Casey, who wants him to finish his last "job". It continues when shortly afterwards, Peter arrives at the mansion to pick up "Neal" to work on a new case. How will the twins get out of this conundrum before it turns into a disaster? And will any of the others notice that they have the wrong twin, respectively?
> 
> "Some additional notes: you don't have to describe the cases Neal and Bryce are working on (maybe some basic infos); would love to see June figuring it all out before anyone else; maybe a meeting of Sarah and Casey with Peter to sort things with and about the twins out; could possibly work as a two-shot (one with Neal, Sarah and Casey, the other with Peter and Bryce)"
> 
> Most certainly two-shot length but still posted as a one-shot (yes, this one is long). I hope you like it!

**E -**   **Exchange**

* * *

Neal stood outside June's with a thermos of coffee in his hand, waiting for Peter. He was slightly drowsy after an unexpected visitor turned up in his apartment the previous night but, he had left Mozzie to watch him.

Screeching tires pulled him to full wakefulness as a black van pulled up in front of him.

"Hey-" he started to protest as the side door slid open. A woman with shoulder length blond hair and a stern expression glared at him as a man; a military-like man, reached out and yanked him in.

"Come on, Larkin," the man growled, "we've got a mission to complete."

"What?" Neal questioned in complete surprise. Did these people think he was Bryce?

"They took Chuck," the blond told him in a worried voice which clashed with the glares she was sending him, "and we're going to get him back."

* * *

Peter pulled up outside Junes' and parked the car. Despite his slight delay in traffic, he had expected Neal to be ready and waiting.

He gave a long-suffering sigh and hopped out of the car. It looked like Neal was planning to be difficult this morning. June's maid let him in and he walked the familiar route up to Neal's apartment.

"Neal!" he called, banging on the door when he found it locked. When it didn't open, he placed his ear to the door. He could hear people on the other side talking in muffled voices, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

* * *

"It's the Suit!" Mozzie panicked.

"Who?" Bryce questioned, looking at the door.

"Neal's keeper! He's probably up here looking for Neal!"

Bryce frowned in slight confusion.

"Peter? But Neal went down to meet him."

"Something must have happened to him!" Mozzie theorised. He shot a quick glare at Bryce.

"It's not my fault," Bryce was quick to defend himself.

"I'll look into it," Mozzie quickly decided, "as for you..."

* * *

Peter fiddled with his keys, looking for the one which opened Neal's apartment. It was the shiny key that hadn't seen much use. Normally Neal opened his door right away and Peter was content to give him some privacy, just not when they were going to be late for work.

However, before he could unlock it, the door opened and 'Neal' appeared, partially dressed. He had pants and a shirt on but his tie was undone and he was still missing his jacket, hat and his hair was a mess.

"Sorry, Peter," he said, flashing a smile. "I overslept."

And just like that, the strange feeling of something being 'off' vanished. Peter let himself in as 'Neal' finished getting ready.

"Better hurry up then," he said, "there's an undercover operation awaiting us."

"Really?" Bryce questioned, interested. Maybe playing Neal would have its perks, if he got to go undercover and investigate bad guys.

"Yeah, Sara's asked for our help again."

Bryce paused for a moment.  _Sara?_ He knew it couldn't be Sarah Walker; who was now Sarah Bartowski, but the similar name made him slightly anxious, like maybe he couldn't pull Neal off well enough that no one would notice.

* * *

Neal automatically pulled up the calm of the con and smiled at the two strangers. They had pulled up in front of some building and were watching it on the screens inside the van.

"Either of you going to explain what's going on?" he asked, hoping that Bryce hadn't already been told the situation before he turned up at June's.

"After you and Chuck secured the briefcase yesterday, Adcock's men followed us to the hotel and they grabbed Chuck," the woman explained.

"We've spent most of the night trying to track you down in order to get the location of the briefcase," the man said.

"We can't hand it over to them," Neal responded. He had no idea where this briefcase they were talking about was so he couldn't give it to them.

"It's Chuck," the woman said, as if that justified everything they were talking about.

The man grunted in agreement.

"If they get it, they'll kill him," Neal pointed out.

"We need some kind of back-up in case something goes wrong," the woman said, "and Adcock will only deal with 'Mr. Thone', you."

"Okay," Neal agreed. This seemed easy enough. Get in and negotiate the return of the hostage. It wasn't like he hadn't done this before.

"Good. Here," the man tossed him a gun.

Neal was about to recoil and then remembered that he was supposed to be Bryce. Bryce used guns.

He sighed as he tucked it into his back waistband. Just because Bryce used guns, didn't mean he had to like it.

"And here," the woman passed him an earpiece. "Get him back, Bryce."

Neal placed it in his ear and tried to suppress the feeling that something was going to go wrong. He reminded himself that he could do this; he was Neal Caffrey, confidence man. He could deal with anything.

* * *

If Neal could do it, Bryce could do it too. At least, that's what Bryce told himself as they pulled up down the street from a warehouse.

The back doors of the van opened a woman with blinding copper red hair stood there with fierce determination written all over her face.

"Hey Peter, Neal," she greeted, moving back so they could hop out of the van. "Ready to do this?"

"Yeah," Bryce responded with a smile. He was almost certain that this was Sara and was faintly jealous of his brother for getting to work with a beauty like this.

"'Mr. Warren' hasn't arrived yet," she reported, "but, he should be here soon."

"Good," Peter said, looking at Bryce. "You know what to do?"

"Run me through it again," Bryce said in a light tone. 'Smile, smile,' was quickly becoming his new mental mantra. He wasn't as practised at the conman smile as Neal was.

"Sara's going to introduce you to Luke Warren as her go-to thief."

"Recovery man," Sara corrected, to Peter's amusement.

"Find out what he needs a thief for, get it on tape and get out. If you have the slightest inkling that you've been made or the deal's going to go sour, say the phrase 'terrible luck' and we'll be there. Response time is five minutes."

"Got it," he responded confidently. Get hired as a thief, easy. It was nowhere near as dangerous or high-stakes as his regular missions.

* * *

"Please don't let him shoot me, Bryce!" the sleek brown haired man begged. He was tied to a chair with a gun pressed to his forehead.

"So, 'Mr. Thone', my briefcase for your friend," the man with the gun, Adcock, proposed.

Neal felt sick; he really hated guns.

* * *

Getting hired wasn't as easy as Bryce thought it would be. Sara gripped his arm tightly as Warren pulled a gun. To top it off, the suit he had borrowed from Neal was too tight for him to be able to execute a roundhouse kick.

"You got a plan?" Sara whispered into his ear with confidence. It was obvious that she thought he did.

He had plans but, most of them involved at least having a weapon. He wondered how Neal did this, facing armed men without a weapon and walking out unharmed.

* * *

"What if I told you I didn't have it?" Neal asked, ready to spin a tale, "what if, the only man who knows where the briefcase ended up happens to be tied to that chair?" He nodded towards Chuck.

"What if I don't believe you?" Adcock responded. Even though he said that, he pulled the gun away from Chuck's head. Neal smiled wider; it seemed that he wasn't willing to risk it.

He and Mozzie had theorised many a plan of manipulating a patsy into sending them items of worth, without knowing where those items would end up; so they wouldn't be able to track it back to them. Neal just spun one of those plans as if he had been the patsy and Chuck had been the executor.

He engaged Adcock and made him relate to him, slowly garnering a little trust.

"He tricked us both!" Neal finished, pointing a finger at Chuck. "Give me five minutes alone with him and I'll get you your briefcase!"

* * *

Bryce pulled Sara behind him and faced Warren. Neal wouldn't like it if he got his friends killed.

"See, I don't think you're Nick Halden," Warren sneered.

"Oh?" Bryce responded in a Neal-ish manner. How ironic that it would be the mark that figured it out before Neal's friends.

"How about a little proof? I'll give you a task and if you pull it off, I'll believe you're Nick Halden."

Oh, so that's what he wanted. A free thief. Bryce raised an eyebrow.

"No," he responded, "I don't work for free." He kept his arm around Sara as he turned partway around and began walking towards the door.

"You do now!" Warren responded. Bryce paused and turned around, twirling Sara as he moved. "If you leave, you leave in a body bag."

Bryce mused on that for a moment. This situation barely ranked as dangerous to him, his only worries being that his suit was improper for a fight and that he was weapon-less. He glanced at Sara; she appeared calm so he didn't have to worry about her. He also noticed that she also had a baton hidden in her handbag.

He let go of her, lifting the baton from her bag and hiding it from sight as he moved closer to Warren. Obviously the man thought that the one with the gun held all the power because he didn't even bat an eyelid.

"Fine," he huffed as if this was one big inconvenience for him, "what do you want me to do?"

"First, the insurance woman comes with me, as leverage, you understand?" Bryce nodded and Warren continued, "and then, you're going to steal me a painting." Once Warren announced what painting, giving the FBI what they needed, Bryce whipped out the baton and knocked the gun from his fingers. A knock to the gut kept Warren immobile and curled over in pain long enough for Bryce to grab the gun and point it at him as he gave the FBI the take-down signal.

"Someone's having terrible luck today," he quipped.

* * *

Five minutes alone with Chuck was all Neal needed in order to free the spy. Now Adhock's men were lying unconscious on the floor and Adhock himself had fled, only to find himself held at gun point by Casey the moment he stepped out of the room.

"That was risky, Larkin," Casey said, gruffly, "feeding him that story. I would have just shot the creep." Even though he said that, he roughly cuffed Adhock.

Sarah glared at Casey and then at Neal after giving Chuck a 'thank goodness you're safe' hug.

"Not just risky," she complained, "downright dangerous. What if he had shot Chuck?"

"I thought it was genius," Chuck commented, taking her hand. "Once I got what was happening, anyway. Besides, he saved my life."

Sarah frowned and it was obvious that she didn't think so but, she relented.

"Alright, let's head back to the hotel," she said.

Neal breathed a sigh of relief, already envisioning his bed back at June's. He was exhausted from the high adrenaline situation and was completely willing to pass this life back to Bryce.

However, Casey gripped his shoulder and guided him back towards the van.

"You're staying with me," he said, "no more running off."

* * *

Bryce watched the FBI arrest and escort Warren off the premises, until a rather red-faced Sara stormed over to him.

"What was that?" she demanded to know.

"What was what?" he asked, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"The touching and the holding," she said, "not to mention the moves you pulled off with my baton."

Oh. Bryce had automatically reached for her because that's the way spies were trained. The more you touched your partner, the less people looked at you. It was habitual now.

"I didn't want to say anything while in front of Warren but, what are you up to now, Caffrey?"

Ouch. There was a sting behind those words that even Bryce, not being Neal, could feel.

"Does it matter if I'm up to something?" he asked simply, his smile dropping unconsciously.

She looked him up and down, her suspicion growing as she took in his defensive posture. Bryce was defensive mostly because he didn't care what she thought and didn't like anyone digging in his personal matters.

"Whatever you're planning," she finally said, "be careful."

"What? You're worried?" Bryce questioned, hiding his surprise behind a smile. So, Neal had people who worried for him.

She didn't answer which was all the confirmation he needed.

"Alright. We're finished here; time to go back to the office," Peter said, suddenly clapping a hand onto his shoulder. Bryce twitched, suppressing his reflexes which moved to toss the other man to the ground.

* * *

 

"Moz? I need your help."

* * *

Mozzie paced Neal's apartment. One of his emergency phones sat on the table, where he had placed it after Neal's call. Neal had been taken by Bryce's work buddies and if the rumours he had heard about them were only partly true, it would still be almost impossible for him to steal Neal back.

"Mozzie," June greeted as she walked into the apartment. Her voice sounded pleasant but was undernoted with steel. Whatever she had to say was important. "Care to explain why there were two Neal Caffreys leaving my place of residence this morning?"

* * *

Bryce sighed and placed another file onto the desk. He should be out looking for Neal, not reading dull reports at Neal's desk.

He wondered how Neal got through the day without dying of boredom.

"Cheer up, Caffrey," Diana said as she placed a coffee onto his desk. "It's just mortgage fraud."

"Actually, I think this one is identity theft," he responded, picking up the file he was working on.

She gave him a strange look.

"Where's your anklet?" she asked, glancing down at his leg which was propped up on his chair. When he picked up the file, he had slid his chair back and given her a good look at his bare ankle.

Bryce was kicking himself. The anklet! Not only had he forgotten to keep his ankle covered, he had also forgotten that he could use it to find Neal!

"Is that the little guy?" Jones questioned suddenly, coming up towards them and distracting Diana from doing anything about the anklet.

Mozzie marched through the doors of the White Collar office, head held high, and arm gripping his bag tight enough to go white while trying to look business-like. His entry paved the way for June's, as she walked in behind him.

Bryce shot out of his chair.

"Mozzie?" he questioned, worry for Neal suddenly forefront in his mind. Mozzie wouldn't have come to a federal building unless it was bad.

"I panicked!" he quickly defended himself, although Bryce didn't really understand why he was saying it.

"Can I take an early lunch or something?" he asked Jones, knowing they couldn't speak freely here.

"You can't leave," Diana answered instead, "not without the anklet."

"He's not wearing the anklet?" Jones asked her.

"Of course he isn't!" Mozzie whined, "because he's not Neal! Neal's off in some underground government facility probably being tested on and he needs help!" He shuddered just thinking about it.

"What?" Bryce questioned. All he understood from that was that Neal needed help. And the Mozzie had just exposed him.

"We apologise for bothering," June said to the surrounding agents, exuding a calming presence, "is there somewhere private where we can talk?"

"Peter's office?" Diana suggested. Jones nodded.

* * *

The door was barely shut before Mozzie rounded on Bryce.

"This is your fault!" he said, "you led them to Neal!"

"I did no such thing!" Bryce defended; his expression hardening now that he didn't have to play Neal for the entire office. June's, Jones' and Diana's bodies blocked Bryce and Mozzie from the view of the office.

But not from Peter's view.

"What's going on here?" he demanded to know. He had been sitting at his desk, trying to work, when all five of them had squeezed into his office. And now Neal and Mozzie were yelling at each other.

"Peter," June greeted him, "it appears there's been a mix up."

"A mix up?" Peter questioned, not comprehending and wishing she would get to the point.

"So it would appear. See, Neal went out to meet you this morning."

Peter frowned as this sunk in.

"But-" He had to go up to collect Neal from his room. Peter glanced over at Neal. He was standing different. He stood with his shoulders squared, like someone with military training. His eyes were harder than Neal's and it seemed like his gaze was assessing everything about you.

The feeling of something being 'off' returned.

"Who's he then?" he asked June, knowing that she had the highest chance of giving him an answer.

"I didn't get a name," June responded, glancing over at Bryce. "But, Mozzie tells me he's Neal's twin brother."

"Bryce Larkin," Bryce introduced himself and crossed his arms over his chest.

"'Larkin'? Not 'Caffrey'?" Jones questioned in interest.

"That's none of your business," Bryce responded.

"Where's Neal, then?" Peter questioned.

"He called me!" Mozzie explained, "someone called 'Chuck' was being held hostage and they needed Bryce to save him but, they mistook Neal for Bryce and took him instead." Mozzie spotted the horrified look on Bryce's face and smiled as he continued, "Neal managed to save Chuck anyway but, now they're watching him so that he can't leave."

"We're supposed to fly out this afternoon," Bryce pointed out, putting all the pieces together. Adcock must have gone after him but, found Chuck instead. They had been working the mission together, after all. And Sarah and Casey would be watching over Chuck and Neal in order to make sure nothing happened again.

The plane wouldn't leave without all of them on it either. Bryce was the only one who knew exactly where the briefcase was and Chuck was needed to analyse its contents.

"Okay, we can just call them and switch Neal and Bryce back," Diana suggested.

"I really don't want them knowing about Neal," Bryce said. Mozzie nodded in reluctant agreement.

"Is there a reason for that?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow. When Bryce didn't respond, he sighed and instead asked, "is there someone you can tell about Neal that can help?"

Bryce's brow furrowed in thought. For a moment, Peter thought he'd shake his head 'no' but, he nodded.

"There's one person."

* * *

Neal was standing in the bathroom, trying to dislodge the back of the sink mirror cabinet when there was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Bryce?" His heartbeat calmed at the sound of Chuck's, and not Casey's, voice, "can we talk?"

"Sure," Neal responded, closing the mirror. He would have to try again later.

Chuck was standing just outside the door. Neal looked around but couldn't see Casey.

"Casey's gone," Chuck responded, "I told him Sarah wanted to speak with him."

Neal raised his eyebrows. Every part of Chuck was radiating nerves and it was suspicious. But, Chuck just told him follow him. Outside the room and down to the elevator, Chuck was silent and Neal was suspicious. And a bit curious. Chuck's behaviour had gone from friendly to distant in a small space of time and Neal couldn't help but wonder why.

"You're not Bryce, but Neal, right?" Chuck finally asked in the elevator. When Neal nodded, he added, "Bryce called me and explained the situation. I'm supposed to take you back home."

The elevator doors opened and Sarah and Casey were standing there.

"Bryce, where are you taking Chuck?" Sarah asked.

"Uh, he's not, I mean; it wasn't," Chuck stammered. He paused, took a deep breath and then said, "it was me, not him."

"Where were you going, Chuck?" Casey asked.

"Are we prisoners?" Neal asked as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Because, if we're not, you have no right to keep us here."

"You also can't go off alone," Casey responded, "until we analyse the briefcase, you're both walking targets."

"Fine, come with us," Neal said. He was certain he would be able to find a chance to switch with Bryce outside their view.

* * *

Chuck had sent Bryce a message informing him that Sarah and Casey were tagging along, but that they hadn't been told about Neal. Peter asked Bryce what he was going to do about it but, he didn't have an answer. He wasn't really sure. He could hide, Neal would find him and they would switch but, Peter wasn't willing to just drop him off. The other agent was coming to the 'exchange', as they had quickly named it back at the office, in order to make sure Neal was okay. Peter had checked the tracking data for Neal's movements during the day, after which Bryce had then hacked and altered as he didn't want to implicate Neal in anything.

Neal had been outside his radius but, because Peter had informed the marshals of the operation that they ran with Sara that morning, no one took any notice of it. And the call to Peter to inform him that Neal was outside his radius had been overlooked as Bryce had been with Peter and outside Neal's radius at the time.

Peter was kicking himself for missing all the clues and was determined to make sure his oversight hadn't led to Neal getting hurt.

Bryce just wanted to keep his secret. Although, he told himself that Chuck was a terrible secret keeper.

"The door's unlocked," Peter mused as they reached Neal's apartment. He twisted the doorknob and opened the door before Bryce could react.

Bryce's surprise was reflected on Sarah's and Casey's faces.

"What the?" Casey questioned.

* * *

 

"Hi, Neal Caffrey. Conman, forger, thief."

"FBI consultant and felon on a tracking anklet."

"Thank you, Peter."

* * *

Neal and Bryce stood next to each other, feeling four sets of interested eyes looking them over.

"Before you say anything, Neal is not getting involved with the CIA," Bryce said, mostly towards Casey, "and we're not mentioning this to General Beckman."

"'Course not," Casey snorted, "admit that we put a civilian at risk, not to mention putting the Intersect at risk as well? Admit that said civilian was exposed to highly classified government secrets without our noticing? It'd be our heads on the platter."

"This stays quiet," Sarah agreed.

Bryce smirked; he hadn't quite thought of it like that. It was a major security issue if Chuck's team could be tricked by a look-a-like, even if that look-a-like was a twin.

"Let's just take our respective Caffreys and get back to work," Peter said, "I'm getting a headache."

* * *

A message from Neal: "Your job involves way too many guns. You should quit."

Return message from Bryce: "Pot calling the kettle black. I faced down a gun while pretending to be you and I didn't even have a weapon to protect yourself. I'll quit when you quit."


	20. LI - Lunchicus Interuptus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From JustThinkingOutloud at Fanfiction.net:
> 
> "Can you write a chapter where Neal is working on a case with the FBI like usual and he has to go undercover to talk with the suspect and Bryce just happens to walk into wherever they are, like a museum or a restaurant?"

**LI -** _**Lunchicus Interuptus**_

* * *

 

"What are you doing here?"

Jones and Peter shared quizzical looks. That sounded like Neal, but his voice was distant, as if he had moved away from their listening equipment. Which shouldn't be possible, unless he took the watch off.

"I'm just meeting with a client," Neal said; in response to his own question? And his voice recording was back to normal.

"Is there something wrong with the bug?" Jones asked as he started running a few tests on the equipment. Everything appeared to be working normally, but Neal wasn't making any sense.

"Why are you meeting with a suspected arms dealer?" Neal seemed to whisper into the mic.

"That's it," Peter grumbled, taking off his headphones. "I'm going in."

"What is this?" their mark questioned, "is this a set-up?"

* * *

Neal smiled at the mark and glared at Bryce. The last thing he expected was his twin brother stepping into the cafe and confronting him in the middle of an FBI operation.

He also hadn't expected Bryce to recognise the man he was with in only one glance.

"No," he said to the mark, "you know how it is, you want to live your own way and there's always someone who disagrees." He nudged his head in Bryce's direction and the mark chuckled and nodded. "Let me get rid of him."

He hauled Bryce away into a secluded corner.

"What are you thinking?" Bryce instantly started to criticise, "last I heard, you were in prison and now you're working with arms dealers?"

"I didn't know he was an arms dealer," Neal hissed back, "but he's looking for a thief."

"So, you offered yourself for hire?" Bryce asked rhetorically, "honestly, Neal, I thought you were better than that."

"That's not it-" Neal started to say as Peter rounded the corner and spotted them.

"Neal!" he called softly, "what's going on?" He blinked as he took in their similar appearances and looked from Neal to Bryce. They were obviously different people as Bryce was wearing a white shirt and black jeans and Neal was dressed in one of his suits, as usual, but Peter still looked confused for a moment. Thankfully, Neal was still wearing the FBI-issued watch.

"Who's this?" Peter asked Neal.

"This is Bryce," Neal responded, "you can inform him our little deal."

"Deal?" Bryce questioned. He wondered what kind of mess Neal had gotten into. People thought he was a trouble magnet, but he knew that Neal was ten times worse. Bryce was in a job that attracted trouble while Neal was an ordinary citizen, although not a very law-abiding one. And yet, Neal somehow still managed to have lunch with arms dealers.

"Bryce, meet Special Agent Peter Burke, FBI," Neal said, "Peter, meet Bryce Larkin. Now play nice, I've got to go smooth over some ruffled feathers."

* * *

Jones looked up as the back door to the van opened. Bryce was shoved in and Peter climbed in behind him.

"Take a seat," he told Bryce as he moved back to his position in front of their monitors.

Bryce nodded a greeting to Jones before commenting, "so this is what passes for an FBI van. It's tiny."

Jones raised an eyebrow as he realised that this was not Neal. To help with that realisation was Neal's voice coming through to their equipment, indicating he was still inside.

"Jones, this is Bryce," Peter grumbled, "apparently, Neal has a twin he never told us about."

"Just because we look alike, you immediately jump to the conclusion that we're twins?"

"You aren't?" Jones questioned because it seemed highly unlikely.

"We are," Bryce insisted, contrarily, "but we haven't see each other in years."

Jones and Peter shared a look as they both wondered why the brothers hadn't seen each other in years. Bryce ignored it.

"Just confirm for me," he said instead, "Neal works for you guys, the FBI, and this is a - what do you call it?"

"A sting," Peter responded, "and yes, it is a sting."

"We didn't know he was an arms dealer when we sent Caffrey in though," Jones pointed out. He looked to Peter. "Are we pulling him out?"

"Neal's going to extract himself," Peter responded, "he'll leave an opening if whichever department we pass this too wants it."

Jones nodded and turned to Bryce with a curious expression on his face.

"So-" he trailed off, forgetting his name.

"Bryce."

"So, Bryce. I'm surprised you haven't run into Neal before now. Why did you come here?"

"To get lunch," Bryce responded.

"Why have lunch here?" Jones tried again.

"It's where I ended up," Bryce responded with a shrug.

"Wait," Peter said before Jones could ask another question. He just realised something. "How did you know that Neal was talking to an arms dealer?"

"I'm not a criminal," Bryce responded, "if that's what you're worried about."

"Wish I could take you at your word," Peter said, "but, you look too much like Neal."

The back of the van opened, revealing Neal. He stood there and held up a card.

"Convinced him that my brother was too whiny to let me stay so we'd continue another time," he reported, "got a contact number."

"Good work," Peter complimented, "we'll check out if your brother's intel is correct and then pass this case to another department."

Neal glanced at Bryce; obviously they knew something that Peter and Jones didn't. Neal smirked and cocked an eyebrow and Bryce shook his head.

"I'll be going then," Bryce said. Within moments, Neal and Bryce had switched with Bryce jumping out the back of the van as Neal jumped inside. Neal shut the doors and Bryce vanished into the streets of New York.

* * *

Diana tapped Jones on the shoulder, signalling for him to follow her as she went up and knocked on Peter's door.

"I hope you appreciate this," she said, dropping a file on Peter's desk and glancing between the two of them. Although her tone was harsh, she was jittering with excitement. They had both explained the sudden appearance of Neal's twin and Peter had tasked her with finding out as much as she could about 'Bryce Larkin'. "He was reported dead in 2007 so I had to call in a few favours to find out the real story."

Peter raised an eyebrow and opened the file. As he skimmed it, he felt the surprise appear on his face.

"He's CIA?"

Jones swore. Diana nodded with a smile on her face.

"No wonder Neal never mentioned him," Jones commented.

"Thinks he knows?" Diana asked.

"He's Neal," Peter said as a response. Meaning, he probably did know. At the very least, he hadn't seemed surprised to see his supposably-dead twin.

Peter handed the file back to Diana to burn. They were going to follow Neal's lead and keep this quiet.


	21. KUWC - Keeping up with the Caffreys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Mozzie ended up friends (even if he denies it) with a CIA agent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From KMW1968:  
> "I would love to read a story in which Bryce (as well as Neal) has been friends with Mozzie for years and which tells the story of how Mozzie helped Bryce out on a mission. It could be before Neal was arrested and Neal could be there as well. It would also be great if Sarah was with Bryce. What would she make of Neal and Mozzie?"
> 
> Some inspiration taken from "A Nice Old-Fashioned Letter" by "storiesfortravellers" on for the locations.
> 
> Closest English translation for 'wethouder' is 'municipal executive board member' (according to Wikipedia)

**KUWC - Keeping up with the Caffreys**

* * *

It was shortly after Adler disappeared that it happened. Mozzie had let Neal stay a night at one of his places since Neal couldn't keep up payments for his apartment and Kate was busy trying to salvage her own place with whatever little amounts of money she could pickpocket during the day and didn't want Neal to move in yet.

Mozzie always woke up at random intervals during the night as not all intruders could be assumed to make noise and this night it paid off. The shadows moved.

"Stay right there!" Mozzie shouted, pulling out his banana knife and pointing it at the figure. His shout roused Neal, who was sleeping in the bed next to Mozzie's sleeping couch.

"Moz?" Neal questioned, sitting up.

"Stay down!" Mozzie ordered Neal, "a spook got in!"

That woke Neal up. The dark haired young man glanced over at the moving shadow standing just before the kitchenette Mozzie had installed when Neal moved in. It was tall, thin and gave off the impression that it had its arms crossed.

Neal wouldn't explain how, but he recognised the figure.

"Bryce?" he questioned.

"Neal?" Mozzie hissed to him, feeling betrayed. He had told Neal to 'tell no one' where Mozzie's place was. 'Tell no one' meant 'tell no one', not a single person and not even Kate!

"He called me a spook," Bryce commented, steeping into the light. There wasn't much that surprised Mozzie, but the presence of a person identical to Neal in the middle of night was one thing.

"Put the banana down, Moz," Neal said to him. To Bryce, he commented, "that's because you are."

"And how do you know that?" Bryce questioned; his eyes like steel in the night, "I never told you about joining the CIA."

Even in the lack of light, Mozzie saw Neal pale and go slack-jawed. It didn't stop him from scolding him though.

"Neal! You told an alphabet agency fed where to find my safe house? How could you?" Mozzie had trained Neal; he should have known better than to give away a safe house, even if it was to his identical- wait. "I didn't tell you, did I?" Mozzie questioned, turning to Bryce.

"You did," Bryce responded, "it wasn't Neal who came up to you earlier today and it wasn't Neal to whom you gave this address to."

"Bryce," Neal sighed, "why are you here?"

"'Why am I here'?" Bryce repeated, "I'm here because of the whole Adler incident, because I happened to recognise the guy calling himself 'Nick Halden', because I haven't heard from you in over a year and I find out you've been involved with-"

"Excuse me," Mozzie interrupted. He had no intentions of getting involved in sibling rivalry or whatever this was. He pulled himself off the couch and wrapped himself in the blanket as he moved across the floor. "You two are free to work out your issues, but I'm going to sleep." He paused and turned to Neal. "You remember the brandy?" Code for 'you remember how to contact me if you're in trouble'.

Neal nodded and Mozzie left him and his fed-twin to work out their issues.

* * *

Mozzie did check the security recording later. It turned out Neal really hadn't known that Bryce was as spy and he had called him a spook because he snuck into Mozzie's place without making a noise. Bryce had been the one to admit it; Mozzie thought it was an amateur move on his part and a brilliant one on Neal's. But, yes, Bryce Larkin was Neal's twin brother, suggesting that either Neal or Bryce was using an alias. Maybe they both were.

There had been a lot of scolding on both sides. Bryce tried to talk Neal into giving up the con life and Neal tried to talk Bryce into giving up the spy life. Neither succeeded.

Mozzie got a lot of entertainment out of that recording; so Stanford was a CIA recruitment facility; there was a conspiracy he hadn't previously known about.

He also knew that Neal was keeping in touch with Bryce through an untraceable email account. Mozzie had to admit, the levels of protection Bryce put on it was impressive.

Mozzie only used it once. To contact Bryce when Neal got back the New York and found Kate gone. Bryce appeared a few days later and spent a few days hanging out the city, claiming that he needed to lay low for a while. He didn't mention Mozzie's message or Kate's missing presence from Neal's life; he hadn't met her but he knew about her from Neal's messages. Once Neal seemed a bit more cheery, he vanished.

It took Mozzie three months to hack back into the email account.

* * *

**Bruges, Belgium**

Mozzie kept his nose to the ground as he handed out drinks at the party. He was scoping this place of residence out in order for Neal to liberate a rumoured Jan van Eyck painting from it. He had already scoped out the security to the upper floors, which consisted of an unguarded but locked door to the next floor that required a passkey. Without that passkey, Neal wouldn't be able to get to the next floor, let alone to the Jan van Eyck.

And there was only one person with a passkey to the upper floors. Mozzie walked into the back kitchen with a heavy heart. Maybe Neal would have some ideas.

"Mozzie?"

At first, Mozzie thought that Neal had reached a level of con prowess which allowed him to know when he needed his presence.

Then he realised it was Bryce.

"I plead the fifth!" he announced, "you'll get nothing from me. I am a rock, a vigilant fortress, all-seeing but never talking, I am-"

Bryce wriggled his wrist, drawing attention to the handcuffs attached to it.

"Oh." The other end of the handcuffs was attached to a pipe, so he wasn't going anywhere without some kind of saw that could cut through metal.

"Think you could get me out?"

"You know, Neal could pick those in under five minutes," Mozzie pointed out. The spook-suits really needed to up their training if this stopped one of their spies. "Don't you have some kind of spy gadget that could get you out?"

"They took everything," Bryce pointed out with a shrug. His clothes were kind of ruffled; Mozzie had thought that he has just come back from some kind of tryst which would have been more exciting and spy-ish. "Look, can you get me out or not?"

Mozzie weighed up his options. Bryce in his debt or Neal annoyed at him for leaving his brother to his fate?

Mozzie could always use a spy on call.

"Fine," he sighed, trying to look bothered. It was a bit of a bother, he had to pull out his spare pick from the hem of his waiter outfit.

"Thank you, Mozzie," Bryce said, breathing a sigh of relief as the cuff fell off with a 'clink'.

"So, what freedom are you suppressing today?"

"The oh-so lovely owner of this residence has a nuclear weapon hidden beyond his fancy ballroom and unbreachable locked door."

"Oh." There was a freedom Mozzie didn't mind squashed. Weapons like that in the hands of men like those meant that Mozzie wouldn't sleep safe until he got out of the country. "A tip: you might want to try spilling a drink on his chest." The keycard was worn on a cord around his neck and under his clothes. Spilling a drink had been one of his and Neal's plans to get at the card.

With a nod to Bryce, Mozzie vanished out the back door. It was time to get out of the country.

* * *

**Undisclosed location in Amsterdam, The Netherlands**

Mozzie sighed and wondered once again if he was going crazy. Responding to a message from a spook! But, Bryce had been clever and informed Neal of his request to Mozzie and Neal had put a little pressure on Mozzie to fly out to Amsterdam.

Today, Neal was supposed to be scooping out The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world and trying to figure out if it was worth running a con. Since they were here, they might as well pretend they were here for work and not assisting in government manipulation and control; he knew it reached far beyond their country.

"I thought I saw a gondola," Bryce's voice droned out from nearby.

"Did you pay the boatman?" Mozzie asked, placing his newspaper on the table. He then raised an eyebrow as he noticed the blond woman with her arm threaded through Bryce's.

"No," Bryce responded in code and then added, "you know that there's no gondolas here, right?"

"Who's this?" the woman asked.

"No names!" Mozzie hissed to her as they sat down next to each other and across from him.

"Sarah Walker, meet Mozzie," Bryce said, just to be contrary. "Mozzie, meet Sarah Walker."

Mozzie glared at Bryce.

"I said 'no names'!"

"Come on, Moz," Bryce responded in a reasonable tone, sounding so much like Neal that Mozzie didn't know whether to be more or less frustrated, "you now know the names of two active agents and we don't even know who you are beyond 'Mozzie'."

"And you looked?" Mozzie questioned as he had expected as much.

"I looked." Mozzie practically preened at that statement. Finally! Confirmation that he was, in fact, anonymous to system!

Sarah cleared her throat, reminding them that they were here for a reason. She was used to people who used code phrases and were careful about deals like this. This little bespectacled man in a wig reminded her of her father; giving off the same airs as an experienced conman.

Mozzie slid his newspaper over to Bryce.

"Two new passports and back-up cash," he said, "they'll be enough to get you out of the country and back to the states."

"That's impressive work," Bryce complimented. He knew exactly who had made these.

"These are fake?" Sarah questioned, sounding impressed.

"No one should look too closely at them," Mozzie said with a nod to Bryce. "Mr. and Mrs. Mallory."

"A married couple?" Neal piped up from the table behind them. A moment later, he had moved into the open seat next to Mozzie. "Is this your honeymoon?"

Sarah smiled pleasantly but didn't comment.

"We'll go with that," Bryce responded.

"Neal!" Mozzie hissed. These brothers! He had told Neal to go back to the hotel and specifically told him not meet him. Twins drew the attention of the crowd. Attention was bad when trying to stay under the radar.

"So, who is Mrs. Mallory?" Neal asked, smiling and leaning towards Sarah.

Sarah glanced towards Bryce, a flash of panic in her eyes. She didn't want to draw attention either but, she the appearance of someone identical to Bryce was throwing her off.

Bryce placed a hand over hers and squeezed. It was one of their codes to tell her to act like everything was normal.

"Neal, this is Sarah. Sarah, this is Neal."

"She blond," Neal commented. He couldn't understand Bryce's taste in women.

"She could also kill you in thirteen different ways right now," Bryce responded.

"I could do the same to you," she said to Bryce, "I can't believe you didn't mention him!"

"I'm kind of the black sheep of the family," Neal responded in a happy tone, "ironically enough." Bryce glared at him and he tapped the newspaper, reminding them about the fake passports which Bryce and Sarah had purchased from him.

"Alright, why are you here, Neal?" Bryce asked, knowing that Neal wouldn't have turned up unless he had a reason.

"I need to know how you're getting out of the country," Neal said, leaning towards him an lowering his voice. "They caught you on camera escaping from one of the  _wethouder_ 's houses. By the end of the day, the officials will know what you look like and you won't be able to get anywhere without being detained. And because I look like you-"

"They'll detain you as well," Bryce realised with a curse.

"Relax," Neal responded, seeing the worry lines appear between Bryce's eyes, "I'm getting out of the country just like you are. You take a plane and I'm going to see about going down the kanaal and maybe crossing over the water to England. I'm thinking of heading to London."

Sarah's eyes lit up; she was impressed. Neal wasn't an agent of the CIA but had so far proved to be very skilled. If she had to guess, she would say that the passports were his work. And he spoke about getting out as if this was a fun little holiday and they didn't have law enforcement officers looking out for them.

"We should move then," Bryce suggested. Neal nodded and Mozzie was already standing.

"Thanks for the coffee," he winked to her before leaving. Sarah was confused for a moment before realising that he had, at some point, switched her coffee cup with an empty one and moved hers over to where he was sitting where he had drained it while they were talking.

* * *

The day Neal was arrested, Mozzie found a new email in his account from Bryce. It wasn't unusual as they often communicated when Mozzie had a new government conspiracy to run by Bryce or when Bryce wanted a little bit of assistance breaking into something. But, this one disclosed a location where he would find a case of hidden money, to help pay for Neal's legal fees.

* * *

**2007, Secure channel on IRC chat**

Mozzie: You have one minute. Type fast.

Bryce: I need a favour.

Mozzie: You know the deal. No helping with government control and suppression.

Bryce: I need to break into a NSA base.

Mozzie: Are you insane?!

Bryce: The NSA and CIA have developed something. Something powerful. There's a splinter group in the CIA who want to get their hands on it and not even the combined might of the CIA and NSA will be able to stop them. I need to get to it first.

Mozzie: All the more reason for me not to get involved.

Bryce: None of this will trace back to you, I promise. Trust me when I say they can't be allowed to get their hands on it.

Mozzie: You have my attention but not my agreement. Keep typing.

Bryce: The project involves subconscious and subliminal imagery. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.

Mozzie: Implantation of ideas and information?

Bryce: and we're looking into implanting skills

Mozzie: Government control through the use of images? I knew it!

Bryce: Will you help me?

Mozzie: You want to steal this technology from the government?

Bryce: Yes.

Mozzie: ...fine. I will assist. What do you need?

Bryce: For starters, I need untraceable funds.

* * *

Mozzie couldn't shake the feeling that this was bad idea...


	22. BLLJ2 - Only a Matter of Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From KMW1968:  
> "A sequel to "Bryce Lays Low at June's". While Bryce is still recovering, first Mozzie, then Peter discover him. The Tupper Brothers would also feature as they try to track Bryce down."

**BLLJ2 -**   **Only a Matter of Time**

* * *

Bryce woke the moment someone opened the door to the room at June's. It was downstairs from Neal's apartment and belonged to Cindy, who was away, or so June had told him.

So, no one should have been opening the door. Bryce's first instinct was to fight but, his leg was still injured and he wasn't able to balance on it, let alone kick. Instead, he quickly rolled off the bed and slipped under it. As long as the intruder didn't look under the bed, he was safe.

He did shoot Neal a text for some backup, just in case.

The bed creaked and Bryce winced as the weight pressed onto his body. He was not safe! He was being squished!

Bryce Larkin, squished to death under a bed; he could hear Casey's laughter already.

"Mozzie?" Neal's voice rang in the darkness. In that moment, Bryce silently thanked his brother for his swiftness. "What are you doing in here?"

"You think I crash on your couch every night?" Mozzie questioned indignantly. He moved around the bed, unknowingly pummelling Bryce below.

Neal hissed in sympathy, knowing from experience how painful hiding under a bed like that could be.

"Well, that's no reason for you to hang out in Cindy's room," Neal said, "come on back up and we'll open up the new bottle of wine June gave me."

Mozzie considered it for a moment.

"Alright," he finally said, getting off the bed.

* * *

Peter came right up to Neal's door. He was suspicious of Neal and that meant he hadn't given June's staff time to warn him that he was coming up.

He knocked on the door once before opening it.

Neal was sitting on the patio, coffee poised at his mouth and dressed only in a pair of pyjama pants.

"You're not ready yet?" Peter asked as he moved across the apartment.

"Rough night," Neal responded, flashing a weak smile as he took a sip of his coffee.

Peter studied him; his head tilting as he noticed what appeared to be light bruises on Neal's arms and face.

"I'll go get ready," Neal suddenly announced. There was a moment when he moved to stand that he paused, right before using the table to push himself to his feet.

"You okay?"

"Leg cramped during the night," Neal responded, "haven't quite worked out the kink yet."

"Ouch," Peter responded in sympathy. He knew the pain cramping muscles from experience. But, he couldn't bring himself to completely believe Neal, not when his whole body moved slower than normal.

He didn't move like someone with a muscle cramp.

* * *

Bryce was sweating as he moved into the bathroom. His leg burned and his breath was coming in little gasps. He stopped hiding his pain and just slid to the ground.

"Bryce!" Neal whispered in a worried tone. Neal placed his hands on Bryce's cheeks and forehead, checking his temperature.

"I'm okay," Bryce responded. He looped his arm around Neal's as he tried to stand. Neal caught onto what he was going and pulled him up, carrying him the short distance to the toilet where he dropped him on the seat.

"No, you're not," Neal responded, his voice kind as he scolded, "you're supposed to be staying off you leg."

Bryce explained that Agent Burke came in without warning and he had to play Neal in order to escape.

"Peter's going to be looking weirdly at me all day," Neal commented with a sigh. Bryce raised an eyebrow; it sounded almost like Neal was okay with it.

"You consider him a friend," Bryce realised.

"Not you too," Neal said with a sigh. "Peter's a good guy."

"Good," Bryce concluded. In his opinion, Neal needed more friends on the right side of the law. Mozzie was more of a gray area kind of guy since he wasn't suspected of any crimes or on any watch lists and Kate was just a little too in love with the adventure and adrenaline that came with criminal acts. After being a victim of Adler's ponzi scheme, she had changed; she had become more devious, like she couldn't trust anyone and began looking out for herself first, determined not to be burned again. To her, you were either the mark or the con and she didn't want to be the mark ever again.

Bryce didn't approve of her because, in order to stay with her, Neal had to be the con as well. And Bryce thought that being a conman was a waste of Neal's skills.

* * *

Neal thought that Bryce being a spy was dangerous. No, he knew it was dangerous. Why else would he have to fake his death? And Neal didn't even want to consider what it meant if Bryce hadn't been faking but had been injured enough that people thought he was as good as dead.

But, he knew that Bryce wouldn't quit; he was keeping the country safe and Neal could understand that a little more now.

"So, you had Neal stand in for you at Stanford?" June questioned. They had been telling her about the time Neal turned up at Stanford after running away from home.

"He didn't tell me anything," Neal snorted into his wine, "just thrust his bag at me and left me with his frat buddies."

"I left you with Chuck," Bryce responded in an offended tone, "Chuck's the furthest thing from the 'frat buddy'."

"And without Chuck, I would have been exposed by the end of the day," Neal reminisced, "there was no way I would have been able to bluff my way through that C++ lecture thing."

"I'm sure you would have thought of something," June assured him.

"I don't know," Neal responded, "I still have nightmares about that lecture." He shuddered. That lecture might as well have been in another language for all he understood. And the rest of the students all spent the time taking notes and paying attention, unlike the rest of the lectures Bryce was enrolled in where Neal could goof off a bit. It was one of the most boring times of Neal's life, right up there with prison.

Bryce just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Mozzie burst in at around three in the morning, jolting Neal from his bed and dialling panic up to eleven. It took several minutes for Neal to calm down enough to understand his friend.

"So, the Tupper Brothers are still searching?" Neal questioned.

"Yeah, and they say that the person they're after is a Fed! They searched his room and got his badge and everything!"

Neal rubbed a hand over his face. While that might be bad news for Bryce, at least it meant he was safe.

"Why did you need to barge into my room, while I was sleeping, to tell me this?" he asked, "I may work with them but I'm not a Fed. And I still have my CI badge."

"The badge has your picture on it!" Mozzie exclaimed, "I saw it and they're showing it to anyone who'll listen."

Now, that was bad news. But, before Neal could react, Mozzie shoved the badge in his face.

"Thankfully, I managed to lift it before anyone else could get a good look. But, why didn't you tell me that you had a CIA alias? Imagine what we could do with this!"

Neal took the badge from Mozzie and stared at it. There was Bryce's face; his face. The badge had been issued that year.

"Neal? You okay?" Mozzie asked. It was then Neal realised he was crying.

Maybe it hadn't really sunk in until now. Bryce was alive. Neal wasn't hallucinating, this wasn't a dream and Bryce encounters weren't limited to this house; the CIA knew about Bryce, the Tupper Brothers were still after him and Mozzie was tracking him, even if Mozzie didn't know it.

Neal had good, solid proof in his hands.

"Anyway," Mozzie continued when Neal kept crying and didn't respond, "why didn't you tell me about this? I mean, the Tupper Brother's are bad news and I could have helped you."

"That's not it, Moz," Neal said, his throat tight. He swallowed and whipped his eyes, trying to regain a little control.

"Does it have something to do with the Suit?"

"Not Peter."

"Mrs. Suit?" Neal shook his head. "The Suit Jones?" Neal shook his head again.

"Neal?" Bryce questioned with his voice auditable and strong throughout the apartment. He walked in through the door and spotted Neal and Mozzie sitting at the table.

Mozzie, who was facing the door, stared.

"You're not supposed to be on that leg," Neal reminded him without turning to look at him. His voice still carried a slight weight from his tears and Bryce immediately knew something was wrong. He quickly hobbled over and slid into the seat next to Neal.

"June warned me that Mozzie was here," Bryce said, wrapping a comforting arm around Neal. Neal leaned into it and held up Bryce's CIA badge.

"You're alive," he whispered. The words were a kick to Bryce's gut. He should have contacted Neal before now, regardless of the consequences. He remembered how he felt when Neal, then Danny, ran away without a word and he had gone and done the same thing but worse.

Mozzie squeaked, catching their attention.

"First, are you a government issued clone or identical sibling?" he asked Bryce. "And, second, why didn't you tell me?" he asked Neal and then added, "I guess he could also be the result of plastic surgery but, I don't know anyone who does work that good."

"Identical twin," Neal responded, "and I didn't tell you because I haven't seen him in years."

"And he's CIA," Mozzie said, well aware of how that confession might have affected him in the early stages of their working partnership.

"And he's CIA," Neal agreed.

"He's also sitting right here," Bryce commented, "and wants to know where you got the badge."

"Tupper Brothers," Neal responded as Mozzie pressed his lips together; he didn't give information to government agents. "They were flashing it around, trying to find you."

Bryce swore. He hadn't thought they would be that determined.

"It's only a matter of time before they track you or Neal here," Mozzie pointed out. He didn't give information but, he could make comments.

* * *

Neal and Bryce plotted until morning but still hadn't come up with a viable plan to get the Tupper Brothers off Bryce's tail. With Bryce injured, Mozzie unwilling to face them in order to protect a government agent and Neal's two mile radius, they didn't have the manpower and flexibility to take on two violent, angry and resourceful men.

"Can't you call in backup?" Mozzie questioned.

Bryce shook his head.

"Since the majority of the CIA still believes I'm dead and there's a powerful group looking for me, I'm on my own. I can't risk calling in backup, especially around you guys. If they find out about Neal..." Bryce let his voice trail off. They all had an idea of what could happen and it wasn't pleasant.

"Right," Mozzie said. He cleared his throat, and his mind of Neal being tortured, and continued, "so, we need someone able to take the Tupper Brothers out of play. Someone who won't put Neal at risk and someone who won't connect Neal to the guy the Brothers are after."

"Or someone who won't report it," Neal said, thinking about the other side of the coin. Both Mozzie and Bryce looked at him like he was crazy. "Think about it," he told them, "Peter's FBI, he's able to take the Tupper Brothers out of play and I think he can be convinced to keep out names out of it."

"I don't know," Bryce said, "that powerful group I mentioned has its hooks in every government agency."

"Really?" Mozzie questioned, his interest piqued.

"Peter's not one of them."

"How can you be so sure?" Mozzie and Bryce said in unison. Neal edged away a little as they him out.

"You would know," Neal responded to Bryce, "after all, you've seen Peter." And both he and Bryce knew that the Intersect would have picked up if Peter wasn't who he said he was. When neither of them seemed convinced, Neal sighed and added, "and if he is, I guess I can always run."

"Let the Suit help," Mozzie said eagerly.

* * *

"I have to say, thank you for catching my brother," Bryce said, biting into one of the pastries Neal had brought back with him. "He was getting a little too full of himself and needed the wake-up call."

"At least I got caught and not shot," Neal responded, able to joke about it now.

Peter just nodded dumbly as Neal and Bryce continued their verbal sparring match. He had gotten the fright of his life when he brought Neal back to June's for lunch and Bryce had stepped right into his vision saying, "Agent Burke," as a greeting.

And then the CIA badge and explanation that followed knocked out any sense he had left.

"And he's also a good influence on you," Bryce continued, his voice light and teasing. He was saying this mostly to get a reaction out of Neal. "Who knows, we may just make an agent out of you, yet."

Neal chocked and erupted in a fit of coughs, Mozzie froze and looked like he was about to faint and Peter refused to even entertain the idea and just ignored Bryce's comment.

"Neal doesn't like guns," Peter pointed out, trying to keep hold of his last shreds of sanity.

"He wouldn't be the first gun-hating agent," Bryce responded with a shrug.

"Tupper Brothers," Mozzie said, reminding them of why they were all gathered and effectively changing the subject, "we need to get them off the streets before they track their 'pretty boy' here."

"Fine, I'll help," Peter agreed. Neal and Bryce both smiled and, for a moment, he felt sorry for the Tupper Brothers. They had no idea what was about to hit them.


	23. NT - Niggling Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Lilac145 on Fanfiction.net:
> 
> "Can you do one where Peter (Diana and/or jones) and Neal are captured or in danger, and Bryce saves them, and they have no idea who Bryce is, or why he's saving them (except Neal knows Bryce, of course, duh)"
> 
> I tried? This is one which turned out a bit differently to the prompt.

**Niggling Thoughts**

* * *

None of them should have been in this situation. Guns pointed at them from all sides. Peter's voice ringing in their ear, telling them that backup was five minutes out.

Neal had been meeting with the person suspected to be behind the theft of a painting at the Guggenheim, which had left two guards injured, one person dead and thousands of dollars in damage, not including the value of the painting stolen.

As the suspect was known to be violent, Diana had also gone in as Neal's bodyguard. And, as expected, the whole thing went sideways when the suspect brought in hired guns who stepped out of the shadows the moment the deal went down.

"It seems your pretty little lady-guard isn't going to be much help," Anatoli Rusnak taunted as he picked up their money and the painting. "Shot them."

Diana stepped closer to Neal, adrenaline running and moving mostly on instinct. She was wearing a vest but Neal wasn't and although she didn't think it would matter, they were good as dead if all those guns went off, she needed to do everything she could to help him survive this.

"Wait," someone said, a figure propelling down from the ceiling of the warehouse. Diana felt the shock go through her system as he appeared; she hadn't even known he was there. When had he got there and what had he been doing up there? He pointed a gun into Anatoli's back. "I'd like to make a deal."

"Peter, don't come rushing in here just yet," Neal whispered into Diana's two-way earpiece, momentarily wrapping his arm around her waist as he pulled her back towards the exit.

One of the hired guns pointed at him a moment later and he let her go, halting their pretend escape.

"Neal? What's going on?" Peter said over the comm. Diana was wondering the same thing.

"A suggestion to you," the stranger continued with a nod in the direction of the hired guns. "Take the money and go. Leave me the painting, Anatoli and Halden. And Halden's bodyguard."

The hired guns shared a look, contemplating for a moment.

"There's over a million in that bag," the stranger added, pulling Anatoli away from it. "Much more than what he was going to pay you, I'm certain."

The hired gun closest to the bag moved towards it, grabbing it. Diana watched in amazement as they all quickly left, leaving her, Anatoli, Neal and the stranger. They were much better odds for her and Neal.

The stranger knocked Anatoli out with the butt of his gun and nodded to Neal. Neal spoke into his watch, something he hadn't been able to do earlier because it was too suspicious.

"Anatoli's hired guns have scattered, you can catch them leaving the building."

Diana held her gun at the stranger. He was dressed in all-black with his harness still clipped around his chest. His hair was dark and windswept. His gaze was serious.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Diana!" Neal gasped, his hand reaching out to push the gun down. Diana shrugged him off. This guy hadn't even hesitated to confront Anatoli and his hired guns alone and she could sense that he was dangerous.

"Name's Bryce Larkin," the stranger said, "and you can put the gun away, Agent Berrigan, I don't mean you or Mr. Halden any harm."

How did this guy know who she was?

"Diana," Neal said again, "you can put the gun away."

She raised a sceptical eyebrow and noted that Neal hadn't said that she could trust him. But, she did as he asked. Bryce hadn't made any threatening acts towards her or Neal and her ethics wouldn't let her shoot him until he did; he had helped them after all.

"Freeze, FBI!" Peter called banging the door open. He pointed his gun around the area as he canvassed it. He took in Neal, Diana, Bryce and Anatoli unconscious at Bryce's feet before holstering the gun.

"Ah, Agent Burke," Bryce said, stepping forward and holding out a hand for him to shake. "Nice to meet you."

Peter, although confused, shook the offered hand.

"He says he's Bryce Larkin, boss," Diana reported, "no idea why he's here."

"Do we even have clearance to know why he's here?" Neal questioned to no one in particular.

"What does Neal mean by that?" Peter asked.

"Right," Bryce sighed, fiddling around his neck. He pulled up a cord with a badge attached to it from under his shirt. "Normally I wouldn't wear this around my neck but, this is a special case."

"He's CIA," Neal pointed out as Peter and Diana leant in to check the badge.

"And you know this because?" Diana asked. Neal shrugged and didn't respond.

"Neal may have done me a favour once or twice," Bryce explained, dropping his use of Neal's alias now that Anatoli was out of the picture, "now, as for why I'm here, the CIA wants to examine the painting that Anatoli stole."

"You can fill out the paperwork back at the office," Peter responded.

* * *

There was something familiar about Bryce Larkin. Diana just didn't know what it was. The way he walked and his businesslike manner didn't match anyone she had worked with before. He didn't go with them to the office, instead appearing a few minutes after they arrived back. Peter had been right in the middle of talking with Neal about etiquette and wearing a hat inside; a discussion that started when Peter had told Neal to take his hat of and Neal had launched into a lecture on how it had been the fashion at one time to wear a hat indoors and the history and theories behind not wearing a hat inside. It was a conversation which was abandoned so that Peter and Bryce could fill out the paperwork.

Bryce filled out the paperwork quickly, took the painting and walked out of the office without missing a beat. He ran a hand through his hair while waiting for the elevator to arrive and Diana had a strong impression that she had seen him before.

"Neal, take your hat off," Peter scolded again.

"Why? You want to wear it?" Neal joked, taking the hat off anyway. "I gotta tell you, Peter, it doesn't match your suit."

"Ha ha," Peter responded in a deadpan manner as Neal placed the hat on the small statue bust on his desk. And then he ran his hand through his hair.

_Not possible._

Whatever thought just fluttered across Diana's mind was immediately discarded, too ridiculous to be true. Beside her, Peter was thinking, or not thinking, the same thing.


	24. AS - Adjusting the Sails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From LianneZ4 (prompt extract):
> 
> "What about an AU to the Season 4 ending when instead of James being proven a murderer, something in the evidence box makes Neal realize that James was in fact CIA?"
> 
> I take a lot a liberties with US law, thankfully, this is a work of fiction.

**Adjusting the Sails**

* * *

Neal didn't even look back as James stepped into the apartment. He heard the door click open and the man's footsteps.

"You killed him," Neal said, his voice drained of all emotion. What he had found, what he had realised, it made him numb. "You killed that cop and you lied to me. Tell me, what else am I going to find?"

"You'll find that Pratt was bad," James responded. Neal could feel him step closer and he slid away.

"And what about you?" he asked, a spark of anger lighting in his chest. He saw the expression that flashed across James' face. He'd seen it before; on someone else, someone long dead. "Before she went into WITSEC, Sam gave Ellen copies of orders you had received from a drop point he had followed you to. She thought they came from the Flynn Organisation." He paused and his phone rang. He listened to Diana as she told him the details of how James framed Peter for Pratt's murder.

"It doesn't look good," she said, sounding distraught, "find James."

"Okay," Neal responded, hanging up. The anger flickered in his chest but he kept his voice level as he asked James what he did.

"It was self-defence," James finally said, after he pushed.

"All you have to do is tell the truth, and Peter goes free."

"I can't do it."

"The Bureau doesn't believe him. He was investigating Pratt off-book. You're the only other person who knows what happened," Neal responded. 'Please don't do this,' rang through his head over and over again. This wasn't right and it had stopped being fair years ago.

"Once they get me, I'll never get away," James responded in tone that matched Neal's.

"You mean the FBI? Or whomever Pratt was working for?" Neal asked. James didn't respond so he added, "or is it the CIA you're worried about?"

He savoured the flash of panic on his father's face. It was as good as a confirmation and it sent fear, anger and regret flooding through him.

"You're going to testify, and you're going to clear Peter's name," Neal said, his eyes burning. If he didn't, if Peter went down for something he didn't do, because of Neal's family, he wouldn't ever forgive himself. It would destroy Peter and El and their happy and innocent life together would be ruined.

They didn't deserve this. Nevertheless, James shook his head.

"Those orders were marked from 'The Director'; there's no 'director' in the Flynn Organisation!" Neal pointed out, the anger and desperation taking over. Peter didn't deserve this! "And the orders are CIA missions!"

"How do you-" James started to say but Neal cut him off;

"Because Bryce worked for them! He worked for them and he died for them!" And before James could ask who Bryce was, because it was his WITSEC name, Neal bellowed, "remember how there were two of us, dad? Twins? I was the first born and Bryce was the second! Didn't you wonder why you couldn't find him? He kept his WITSEC name and he joined the CIA!"

That got a reaction. James twitched for a moment, a crack appearing the CIA-trained facade.

"They tore our family to pieces!" Neal accused, "they took you from us-"

"Putting you in WITSEC was the only way to protect you from my enemies," James interrupted. Neal kept going though;

"Bryce was the only person in my life who never lied to me! And they recruited him before he even left Stanford, when he had his whole life before him! And he died! He was all I had left! You can't do this! You can't put Peter and Elizabeth through this! You show me you're better than this; show me you're still a decent man!"

"I'm sorry, son. If I step forward, my cover will be blown and I still have a mission to complete." He turned to leave and Neal grabbed him.

"Dad, please, do this for me. You can't leave an innocent man to take the fall."

James turned back and Neal felt the muscle under his shirt bludge.

"Don't," James growled. Neal let go and stepped back as it sunk in that he was really going to do this; James was really going to leave. James continued in a soft voice, "I'm going to give you some advice. In this life, somebody always takes a fall. Don't let it be you."

"'Succeed and no one will know but a failure will be known by everyone'," Neal said, adlibbing a phrase Bryce had said to him once, a phrase that stated how the CIA worked.

Neal hated that phrase. To him, it meant leaving someone behind to take the fall and, in his experience, that someone never deserved it. He might be a thief, a conman and a criminal but he never took anything that couldn't be replaced and he never left lives in ruins.

There had to be a way.

* * *

Chuck was enjoying a mission-free week, snuggling with his wife on the couch and watching a movie when his phone rang.

"Really?" Sarah questioned as he moved to get up, "I thought Morgan was out with Alex tonight."

"It's not Morgan," Chuck responded, a feeling a dread curling in his stomach. The name on the screen was only five letters long: DANNY.

"Who's Danny?" Sarah asked, climbing onto the couch to see. And to wrap her arms around his neck affectionately.

Chuck didn't respond. Instead, he gently twisted out of her grip and answered the phone. If Danny was calling him, then it had to be bad.

"What do you know about a man called 'James Bennett'?" Danny said in lieu of a greeting.

Chuck felt the familiar buzz in his head as information flashed before his eyes.

"Well, he's CIA but I think you already know that," Chuck said, "otherwise you wouldn't be calling me."

"I need your help," Danny's voice was soft and took Chuck a moment to realise that his tone was one of defeat. He had never heard Danny sound defeated. It reminded him of Bryce's last moments.

Chuck shivered.

"Why me?" Chuck asked, feeling the weight of the past settle in his chest.

"Bryce once said that 'if anyone could find another way, it's Chuck'."

"He said that?"

"Yeah. And I need another way. James Bennett left an innocent man to burn and I can't-" Danny's voice caught, "I haven't been able to find him. We have less than a week left."

"Okay," Chuck agreed. He heard Danny's sigh of relief on the other end. "What do you need?"

"James Bennett said that he was working as part of a CIA op. I'm hoping you can find him and, if not, the reports surrounding what he was doing here, here's what happened..."

Chuck nodded away as Danny outlined everything that had happened over the past few months: another loved one had died, leaving only a name as a clue to what happened, the name led him to his father, who seemed to be helping at first but turned out to be running his own agenda and now the life of Danny's friend had imploded and he was going to be charged with murder.

He quickly started up his laptop and ran a search on James Bennett. It didn't return any results.

"I'll keep trying," he promised. Danny had never asked him for anything before and Chuck felt he owed it to the other man after watching his twin brother die.

* * *

With five days left:

"I still haven't been able to locate him," Chuck reported, rubbing his tired eyes. He had been working on this during every spare moment. "Pratt's death has sent him completely off-grid."

"Have the copies of Ellen's evidence arrived?"

"Yes." Chuck shuffled through the papers. He had only been able to get partway through before the constant flashes gave him a headache. "There's a lot to go through but we might be able to use it to get the charges against your friend dropped. I'm going to put a request in with General Beckman to get complete access to James Bennett's files."

* * *

...Four days left:

"Hey, remember when you called to tell me that Bryce had died?"

Chuck snorted. He would probably never forget that moment.

"When you called me a fool, an idiot slave to the man and a bunch of other nasty names?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for saying those things."

"Am I hearing things or did you just apologise?"

"Chuck." He wasn't amused. "I mean it. If you hadn't told me, then I would never have known. You were the only one who thought to call me and I took my anger out on you."

"Danny, I looked at Bryce's files and there's no record of family there. I'm the only one who knows about you; it was kind of my responsibility to tell you." A laugh from the other end;

"You're a good man, Chuck."

"Really?" Chuck responded, suddenly recalling something. Since they were talking about harsh words said to each other, "what about what I said to you when Bryce got me kicked out of Stanford?"

"We all make mistakes. Although, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'; Bryce did do it for a reason."

He had said that and, at the time, Chuck had dismissed it. But now he knew that Bryce did have a reason and for Danny to bring it up now;

"Did you know? About the CIA looking to recruit me?"

"Maybe." That was a yes. "I didn't agree with his idea but, not even I could think of another way. One thing you need if you're going to work for the Feds is leverage. Otherwise you'd just end up like Bryce in the end."

"Speaking from experience?"

"You hacked my files?"

"Maybe."

* * *

...Three days left:

Sarah paced the floor of the Conference Room. Chuck was packing numerous files into a secure briefcase. He was preparing for a trip to New York which had surprised the rest of the team.

"Is this about the mysterious phone calls you've been making for the past week?" she questioned.

"Chuck's been looking into Senator Pratt and his death," Morgan reported, just as interested in knowing what was going on as she was.

"FBI shot him," Casey said, "plain and simple."

"Actually, it's not," Chuck responded. With the help of General Beckman, he had copies of the reports James Bennett had been making up to the day of the Senator's death and the mission information which related to the infiltration of the DC police force in order to assess the level of corruption, which had been much more extensive than first suspected.

"Is this a freelance mission?" Sarah wanted to know.

"It's a favour," Chuck responded.

"Are we getting paid?" Casey questioned.

" _I'm_ ," and Chuck emphasised that as he was the only one going, "not getting paid. There's no pay involved."

"Good luck then," Casey said, standing up. "Don't get shot."

"There are also no guns involved," Chuck said quickly, "just meetings and offices."

Casey gave him the bored grunt.

"Call me when you've got a real mission," he said.

"I don't know," Morgan commented, "this is interesting. I, for one, have never heard of this 'Danny'."

"He's just a friend," Chuck edged, knowing that Morgan wouldn't approve. He didn't think Sarah would approve either, if she looked into him. Since her father was a conman, Chuck thought she might instantly recognise Danny as one. She would certainly recognise him as one if she found the name he was going by now.

"So, you're going to help a friend?" Sarah questioned in disbelief. She knew that Chuck would do this for a friend but, for a friend they had never met? Who lived in New York? It was far to travel just to help out.

"That's right," Chuck said happily but, in the way that meant he was hiding something, "I'll be back in a few days, so watch the Buy More for me." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

* * *

...One day left.

"Chuck."

"Neal?" Why was he calling? They were so close to getting the charges dropped; all that was left was meeting with the federal prosecutor.

"I found out who sent the message about helping Peter."

"Who?"

"Curtis Hagen. He has the federal prosecutor in his pocket." Neal quickly explained who Curtis Hagen was and why he cared about Peter Burke's fate. Since Peter and Neal had been responsible for his arrest, it was clear that he had ulterior motives.

"Oh, that's not good. Is he the reason for all the red tape?" Chuck kept calling in favours in order to keep cutting it, even making a few calls back to Casey and Sarah to get some help.

"Possibly. Hagen says he can get him to back off, but-"

"No, no, no, no, no. You can't make a deal like that," Chuck said, "what about all the work we've done? We're so close!" His mind started whirling, there had to be something they could do or another angle they could take.

"Close isn't good enough, Chuck!" Neal said in a strained voice.

Guilt was tearing Neal up inside and it probably hadn't helped that almost everyone seemed to be looking to him to save Peter. "We can't let them ruin Peter's life."

"What about going above the Federal Prosecutor's head?" Chuck asked, "go to his boss, if possible?"

"There's no guarantee that it'll work."

"I can do this," Chuck insisted, "I'll call the General and she can set up some high-priority meetings with the right people. Maybe we can get the prosecutor changed?"

"'Maybe'?"

"It's just a suggestion. We could also stop the Federal Prosecutor from getting to the hearing or maybe the General could speak for Peter? We're not out of plans yet."

Neal chuckled.

"You're insane," he joked.

"I get things done," Chuck countered with a smile. "Relax. By this time tomorrow, Peter Burke will be free."

"I hope you're right."

* * *

Chuck threw his weight around as 'Agent Carmichael' but, in the end, it was the sensitive information about James Bennett's history and the truth about his occupation that saw the location of the hearing changed and the appointment of a new Federal Prosecutor, one whose position on the case hadn't been tainted by the false information surrounding James Bennett.

Once they changed their goals to removing the corrupted Federal Prosecutor, it had seemed easy. 'Seemed' because Chuck had only been able to get a tiny bit of sleep in the wee hours of the morning as the General flew in to present the information on James Bennett and speak on Peter Burke's behalf, as a personal favour to Chuck. She wanted this over as much as they did so that Chuck would stop calling.

Chuck ended up sleeping through the actual indictment hearing, curled up under the covers of the hotel room bed.

* * *

Peter didn't understand why the sudden changes had taken place. Extra security, a secure location and a new Federal Prosecutor? It was unnerving and he didn't know whether these changers were a good things or a bad things.

"I would like to testify on my own behalf-" Peter started to say.

"General Diane Beckman of the NSA is going to testify on your behalf," the Prosecutor said, cutting him off.

Peter froze in shock, surprise and confusion. There were too many questions for him to know what to do next, although he guessed that this explained the extra security.

What was going on?

* * *

"Based on the evidence before me, I see no other option than to drop all charges," the Prosecutor said, closing the book on the case and freeing Peter.

* * *

"Hon!" El tackled him in a hug as he walked through the door. "I was going to wait outside but they didn't tell me where your hearing had been moved to!"

"You're never going to believe what just happened," Peter responded, still slightly dazed. From what he had managed to understand, they hadn't let him see any of the top secret documents, James Bennett was working for some top secret government organisation as a spy. "In fact, I don't even think I'm supposed to talk about it."

"Is this related to the change of venue for your hearing?" El questioned, smart as always.

Peter nodded.

"Is it important?" she pouted, giving him another squeeze. "Because, if it can wait," she motioned to the couch. The television was already on and Peter suddenly became aware of the delicious smells wafting through the house.

"It can wait," he said, long overdue for some time with his amazing wife.

* * *

This would be the first time he came to his room like this. Peter was free and Neal was feeling a little more like himself. Mozzie was back at June's, partaking of wine and possibly a game of parcheesi in celebration. He was glad that they hadn't made the deal with Hagen and, although he wouldn't admit it, glad that Peter was free.

Neal took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Chuck opened it a moment later.

"I thought you had a radius?" he questioned in surprise.

Neal lifted his pant leg to show the anklet still attached, just to show that his radius was still there.

"Currently shows me at home," he explained. Mozzie had created a device which looped the signal, allowing Neal to leave while the data would show him still in the same spot.

"Huh," and that's all Chuck was going to say about that. He welcomed Neal in.

"So, this is what the CIA pays, huh?" Neal questioned as he looked around.

Chuck laughed at the quip.

"Actually, I'm paying for this, mostly out of the Buy More profits for this quarter," he explained in a light tone like it was no big deal. Sarah hadn't been happy about it but, he had explained how he needed to do this and how unfair it was of the CIA to leave the FBI agent to take the fall, she had agreed. And before Neal could say anything about it, he held up a finger and walked over to his bag. "I do have something for you though."

Neal felt like he was caught in the headlights as Chuck said that.

"What?"

Chuck smiled nervously as he pulled an envelope out of his bag and passed it to him. Praying that this wasn't some kind of really high invoice with Chuck's fee on it, Neal opened it.

It was picture with Chuck, Bryce and their Stanford buddies. Neal stared at, examining the features of his twin's face.

"Now, I know you probably don't like looking at me but I figured you probably don't have many pictures of Bryce, what with the fleeing from authorities and prison and everything." Chuck didn't say it to be mean or to rub Neal's face in his criminal past; he said it like it was just a fact. He probably would have used the same tone had Neal lost everything in a fire or because of constant moving or something.

He was careful to clear his throat before speaking as he didn't want to get chocked up with emotion. He had let his control slip too much over the past few weeks and especially in the past few days.

"Thank you," he said simply. He placed the photo back in the envelope with the same care he gave to priceless paintings.


	25. PA - Pis Aller

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Nina:  
> "Can I propose you an idea ? Neal needs help to stop Keller and find Elizabeth."

**Pis Aller**

* * *

The house was in shambles. Things were knocked askew and pasta sauce stained the mat in the kitchen. Agents trampled everywhere and it was just wrong.

This was Peter and El's house; it wasn't supposed to be a crime scene. It was so very wrong.

Neal felt dazed as events continued to unfold. Jones and Diana reporting, Peter rounding on him and demanding he give up the treasure and Keller's phone call during which El managed to pass a message to check Satchmo; they discovered the dog had bitten one of the kidnappers and drawn blood.

"Take me to the treasure," Peter ordered and Neal did.

* * *

But the warehouse was empty. Neal felt the world tilt into sharp focus as he realised what had happened.

"He already moved it."

"'He', Mozzie?" Peter deduced and Neal's lack of response was a confirmation. Peter was slightly calmer now that they were away from the house, the scene of the crime, but still furious. "Call him."

"I already tried! He's not talking to me. We had a falling out."

"What, you couldn't agree on what island to buy?" Pause. "Where'd he take it?"

"I don't know." Another pause, the silence filled with Peter's glare. "I don't. It's Elizabeth. No lies. I don't know."

Peter breathed out and became less furious.

"Mozzie could be anywhere," he commented, "and we have less than twelve hours."

No Mozzie. In the past, before prison and the anklet, 'no Mozzie' meant something different.

It had meant the same as 'no Kate', 'no Alex', 'no Keller'; well, no working with Keller, 'no FBI'. Then again, they weren't working completely with the FBI now, either. Peter and Neal were focused on finding Keller while the FBI, including Jones and Diana, were focused on finding El.

 _Pis Aller,_  the move of last resort. The worst thing that could happen had happened.

Neal pulled out his phone and dialled one last number. His lips moved as he silently pleaded for the person on the other end to pick up. He was aware of Peter watching on curiously.

After three rings, someone answered.

"I'd like to report a computer emergency," Neal said, giving the code words which had been drilled into him during prison.

Kate hadn't been his only visitor. Right before his four years were up, while he was waiting for Peter's decision on the anklet deal, he had another visitor. This visitor had been escorted right to his cell, like a VIP, and they had quietly talked to him for hours. A contact number and a code phrase were passed to him, only to be used in the greatest of emergencies.

He didn't know whether that person would consider this to count but, Neal needed him.

* * *

Peter got very little sleep that night and he turned up at June's in the wee hours of the morning, unable to wait around any longer. It felt a little like he was wasting time and he was too tightly wound to sleep.

"Any luck with Mozzie?" he asked.

Neal shook his head, eyes glued to his phone.

"I been trying every number I have for him," he lamented, "nothing. All his numbers have been cancelled and any emails bounce back."

"What were you two arguing about?"

"Mozzie wanted to leave New York. I didn't."

"Why not?"

"You." After a pause, Neal added, "Elizabeth. Clinton and Diana. The view out that window. Stepping off the elevator Monday morning. All of it. I have a life here."

Peter took a shaky breath as that sunk in. He was glad that Neal felt he had a life here but, worried that it might be a case of 'too little, too late'. If they didn't get El back...

"So, if you haven't been able to contact Mozzie, who did you call?" Neal had refused to answer that question hours earlier, in case 'he' didn't come, but Peter figured he had waited long enough.

"Me," a voice from the door said.

Neal jumped and Peter twisted, hands moving into a ready to fight position.

The man standing at the door gave them an encouraging smile. His dark hair was messily done, with a part to one side and wavy strands framing his blue eyes. He was dressed in a white button-up shirt and dark pants with a gun holstered at his waist.

"You came," Neal said, hope sparking in his words.

Peter glanced back to Neal and did a double-take. His appearance had slipped over the past few hours, his perfectly-styled hair falling loose. It was shorter and parted on the opposite side but the resemblance was still there.

"Of course I did."

"Who are you?" Peter asked.

"My name is Bryce. I'm here to help."

* * *

Peter didn't know what to make of Bryce. He obviously had some kind of relationship with Neal and he would be surprised if they weren't brothers or something; although he had seen a few cousins that looked alike so it could be that.

Bryce; who was 'just Bryce', was actually a welcome figure. As the only one who hadn't met Elizabeth, his emotions weren't compromised by the situation. Neal was emotional and sensitive and made his living showing and manipulating emotions. Bryce was more like, well, he kind of reminded Peter of himself. He could manipulate other people, lie and con but, he seemed to prefer not to talk about emotions when he was just himself and not playing a role.

Knowing this hadn't helped Peter feel any more comfortable about this mysterious man. Or his team.

A military-like man who sneered down at him, a blond haired woman who spoke reasonably but was used words as manipulatively as Neal and a tall man with sleeked back hair who reminded Peter of the agents who dealt with Cyber Crime and appeared to be the leader of the team.

The man was Casey, the woman Sarah and was marred to the other man, Charles Carmichael; who everyone called 'Chuck' and, on one occasion from an annoyed-sounding Casey, 'Bartowski'. Despite Bryce doing most of the talking and acting like he was the one in charge, Chuck was obviously the leader. Sarah and Casey both automatically turned to him and even Bryce trusted his judgement, changing things just from Chuck's input.

They were well-equipped too. They had a van filled with equipment that outclassed the FBI vans, which was strange because they had mentioned a six-hour flight here and there was no way they could have brought the van with them from Burbank.

Everything about this seemed shady; the feeling made worse by Neal's insistence that they were legit.

"Trust me when I say that they're better equipped to save El than the FBI," Neal said, "and that nothing they do can get us in trouble."

"This plan they have-"

"It is  _involved_ , yes," Neal interrupted. Peter scowled at him. 'Involved' was not the word he was going to use. "Peter, this will work." The words, 'it has to work', were left unspoken but Peter could swear he heard them hanging in the air between them.

"Don't worry, Agent Burke," Sarah said in a reassuring manner, "we've been through this kind of thing a lot lately."

Casey gave a grunt which sounded like agreement. Bryce explained quietly that Sarah had recently been kidnapped and that, a little before that, Casey's daughter had been taken and used as a hostage so that he would a criminal escape.

* * *

The plan required precision timing.

Peter stood at the meeting place with Neal by his side, which he was grateful for. Neal's presence was reassuring in spite of everything they had been through lately.

"Keller's here," Bryce announced, his voice coming through the comm. in Peter's and Neal's ears. He was sitting in the van a block or so away with Sarah in order to coordinate the 'mission'. Peter it odd that they used that word for it. It wasn't a con or a sting but a mission.

Peter had a growing notion that this team Neal had called in were not criminals. But that didn't explain how Neal had been able to call them in.

"What?" Keller questioned as soon as he spotted them, "no Mozzie?"

Peter lost his senses for a moment as he laid eyes on the man who kidnapped his wife. Rage flashed through him and he stepped forward with his hands curling into fists.

"Mozzie left town," Neal responded, "but, he didn't count on me being able to get to the treasure while he was gone."

Keller smirked at the subtle mention of Neal's radius. Mozzie could leave the treasure if he thought the Feds would be watching Neal and Keller had already guessed that the treasure was outside his radius.

"I guess that begs the obvious question, then," Keller turned to Peter and asked, "is your dog off his leash?"

Neal pulled up the leg of his pants, showing the lack of tracker.

"Good boy," Keller commented. He rubbed his hands together and cheerfully added, "let's do this then."

"Let's do this then," Chuck's voice announced over the comm. in an imitation of Keller's voice.

"We won't be doing anything," Peter announced to Keller.

Keller paused for a moment, surprised.

"Have you forgotten about your wife?" Keller asked, "or are you being a good little fed?"

"This was my idea," Neal responded instead of Peter, "see we're going to distract you until the FBI finds her."

Keller laughed.

"Really, Neal? Has working for the feds finally gotten to you?" Keller pulled out his phone. "If I don't make a call every half-hour, then the Lady Burke is dead. Distracting me won't work."

"I don't believe you," Neal responded, feeling his heart thud in his chest. This needed to work. He needed to get Keller to make the call to where they were keeping El. "And even then, we have half an hour."

"No you don't," Keller responded dialling the phone. He hit the 'call' button and two things happened at once.

Casey sniped him with a tranquilizing dart and Neal rushed forward to grab the phone from his hand before it hit the ground. Neal pulled a bug from his pocket and activated it, allowing Chuck to take the call from the van.

"Yeah?"

"Get here now," Chuck said in a close imitation of Keller's voice, "I shot the fed and his dog and need extra hands to move the treasure."

"Uh, what about the woman?"

"Well, it's not like she can just walk away. Just leave her there. Unharmed. We might need her as leverage."

It felt like an eternity before Keller's hired man agreed. Peter breathed a sigh of relief when Chuck rattled off where they were. Neal's hand clasped his shoulder as they moved down the street to climb into the van.

"Let's go," Bryce announced, pulling it out into traffic.

"I managed to trace the signal," Sarah announced, reading off the address where they believed they would find El.

"It's almost over," Neal breathed in relief. Casey was watching over Keller and would knock out the hired man if he arrived before the FBI, who had been tipped off by an anonymous caller.

* * *

They were almost there when Peter's phone rang.

"Diana?" Peter answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Disappointed?" Elizabeth responded, "I'm calling from a pay phone a street down from where Keller was holding me." She rattled off the address before Peter could interrupt.

"We're on our way," Peter responded, "just stay on the line."

"I'll try," she said, "I had to borrow some money..." she kept talking and Peter kept nodding into the phone and giving one word responses.

Bryce pulled the van into the closest park and Peter jumped out. Neal hesitated to follow, glancing back at Bryce.

"You're going to leave now, aren't you?" he asked, sparing a glance at the other two in the van.

Sarah shuffled nervously and Chuck couldn't meet his eyes.

"I'll send you a phone with a new number to contact me installed on it," Bryce said, twisting in the driver's seat so that Neal could see his face.

There were a few moments of tense silence before Neal nodded.

"If it doesn't work, I'm going to have Peter chase you down," he commented, "and he's good at what he does." And then he jumped out of the van, watching as it drove away.

Neal turned to see Peter and Elizabeth in an embrace; a happy ending.

* * *

And two days later, Mozzie turned up at June's. He had been unable to leave New York and the people there. After hearing about what happened to El, he was convinced by Neal to hand over the treasure to a team of feds that consisted of a military-like man and a husband and wife. Neal had explained that he owed them.

And Mozzie didn't hand over the whole treasure as he didn't tell them where he moved Neal's portion of the treasure but, they didn't need to know that.


	26. MI - Mistaken Identity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Syrus07:  
> "Could you do one where Peter and Bryce work a case together before Peter starts chasing Neal, and through out most of the time he's chasing him he thinks he's Bryce? Like he'd signal they were coming ahead of time, terrified that they'd crash a CIA op."
> 
> If you're reading this as it updates, there were two chapters uploaded in less than 12 hours so if you haven't read 'Pis Aller' you might want to go back (but you can read this story first since they're both unrelated one-shots).

**Mistaken Identity**

* * *

His name was Bryce Larkin. Young, with dark hair, baby-blue eyes and a round face that looked like he should still be a college.

Yet, he was CIA and Peter was assigned to work with him. They had to work together to infiltrate a criminal gang. In that time Peter learnt that Bryce took his work seriously, was good at it and liked outsmarting criminals. All of Peter's protests would be met with the same half-smirk.

One final thing he learnt about Bryce Larkin was that he was good at disappearing. When the case was over, he was gone.

* * *

When James Bonds file crossed his desk, Peter noticed that the work was high quality and he was interested in catching the guy. What he hadn't expected was the dark haired man with baby-blue eyes and defined face.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear. Are you with the FBI?" The voice confirmed it, sounding exactly like Bryce.

"Special Agent Peter Burke," he said, wondering what the young agent was up to now.

They talked about the forged bonds for a few moments before he handed him a green lollipop and walked away.

Peter watched him go and wondered just why he chose to approach him. He suspected that it had something to do with the bonds and spent that night with James Bonds' files spread out before him.

Was James Bonds a real 'James Bonds'? And what was Peter supposed to do with this kind of information?

* * *

Peter didn't know why it started. But, whenever he got close to James Bonds, he felt the need to send out a warning. It wasn't interfering, not really.

The first time, he spotted him at a bar while undercover. He went up, ordered a drink and tapped out a warning in Morse code on the counter.

The second time was an anonymous letter sent up to the hotel room where 'Nick Halden' was staying. This became his go-to way for warning him the next few times. 'Steve Tabernacle' was out of the area before the warrants to bug the hotel he was staying at came through.

* * *

Neal looked over the letters again. They were all written on the stationary of whatever hotel he had been staying in at the time. A name had never been left but the attendants all described a similar voice.

 Peter's voice. Mozzie had confirmed it with a well-placed bug.

"You need to stop staring at those," Mozzie said.

"But, why does he do it, Moz?" Neal asked and not for the first time. The most confusing moment of his life had been when Peter sat next to him at the bar and tapped out a warning to run while ordering a drink. He didn't know whether it was a trap or not but, obeyed anyway. It wasn't like he couldn't escape from their handcuffs if it was a trap.

He got out minutes before the FBI stormed the place and realised that Special Agent Peter Burke really had been warning him.

Why?

"He's a fed, it's a mind game," Mozzie responded, "just be happy that he hasn't decided to catch you yet." Pause. "If you listened to me and pulled yourself completely off the grid-"

"No," Neal responded, instantly. There were so many reasons not to. He knew there would be no big score if they both hid in the shadows. He hadn't found Kate yet. And there were so many things he wanted to try.

Mozzie gave a long suffering sigh.

"Well, obviously my wealth of experience isn't good enough for you," he lamented in a sarcastic tone, "and here's an idea; why don't you try asking the Suit?" They both froze the same time, a look of realisation on Neal's face and a look of horror on Mozzie's. "No!" Mozzie back-pedalled, "I didn't mean that!"

"Too late, Moz!" Neal proclaimed, "I'm going to call him and ask."

"Not here, you're not!" Mozzie cried in a high-pitch tone, "there's a payphone three blocks down, use that! And then I want you-"

"To take the long way back and maybe stop somewhere for a few hours," Neal recited, "consider it done."

* * *

Peter sipped at his beer and ran a hand through his wife's hair. It was a nice, perfect evening. No cases to worry about and no paperwork needing completion.

And then the phone rang. He groaned and moved to answer it.

"Agent Burke!"

"What?" he questioned in surprise. It sounded like Bryce but, why was he calling?.

"You know who I am," the voice continued in a pleasant manner which bugged him, "you've been chasing me, after all."

"Neal Caffrey?" he suggested, it had been the name that came up in their hunt for the elusive con-artist and forger.

"Correct! I should give you a prize but, that's not why I'm calling."

"Then, why are you calling?"

"Why do you always warn me before the Feds show up?"

"I don't-"

"I know it's you." Despite feeling caught out, Peter couldn't help wondering how he figured it out. "So, why?"

Peter thought about that for a moment. Why did he warn the other man?

"I guess I don't want to end up crashing a CIA op," he concluded.

"CIA? Op? What?" Neal said slowly. He sounded confused which bewildered Peter.

"What's going on?" El asked, seeing the look on his face.

"I don't think he knows what I'm talking about," Peter responded after covering the mouth of the phone.

El considered this for a moment before coming up with two very reasonable explanations.

"Either he's not allowed to tell you or he's not Bryce Larkin."

Peter paused a moment before asking Neal, "the name Bryce Larkin doesn't mean anything to you, does it?"

"No," Neal lied, "what does Bryce Larkin have to do with CIA ops?"

Peter sunk to the ground, cursing himself. He gave confidential information to a criminal! He warned a criminal that the FBI was coming! Oh, stupid! He was so stupid!

"Agent Burke!" Neal called into the phone, bringing him out of self-embarrassment for a moment, "what does Bryce Larkin have to do with CIA ops? He's an accountant."

"Bryce is not an accountant," Peter said, not caring about whether he could be saying this or not. Maybe it was better to clear the air and find out once and for all whether this was a case of mistaken identity. "We worked together once. He's CIA."

"Bryce Larkin. Is. CIA?" Neal repeated, his voice growing in fury.

"Neal, don't do anything stupid," Peter found himself saying into the phone. Even though he was a criminal, Neal was non-violent and Peter didn't want his mistake to change that.

"That lying! Ugh!" Neal grunted into the phone, sounding very unlike the Neal Caffrey Peter had been chasing.

"What's wrong?"

"'What's wrong?' What's wrong is that my brother is a lying Fed with a dangerous job!"

"Brother?" That was not in Neal's file. Or Bryce's.

Peter was so surprised that when El reached over and took the phone from his fingers, he didn't bother to stop her.

"A little too loud, Neal," she said in a light and scolding tone, "you'll make Peter deaf." She listened to the other end, nodding unconsciously in agreement as Neal spoke. "Everyone makes mistakes Neal, Peter included. As for Bryce, well, as wife to a 'fed' I can say that, yes, it's dangerous. Yes, I worry about him. But, Peter loves his job and I can't take that away from him. You might be happier if your brother was an accountant but, do you think he would be? And you don't live a safe, ordinary life either Neal." She was silent as Neal spoke again.

"Good bye, Neal," El said as she hung up the phone.

"What did he say?" Peter asked, looking up at her from where he was sitting on the ground and leaning on the wall.

"He's mad that you put your job at risk by warning him because you didn't bother to check whether he was Bryce."

"They are identical," he said in his defence.

"He also wanted to go and kidnap Bryce from the clutches of the CIA and make him get a normal job. I think I talked him out of it."

"I hope so." Peter didn't think the CIA would take one of their agents being kidnapped well. The full force of the FBI cracked down on anyone who was stupid enough to kidnap one of their agents but, the CIA was harsher.

"It'll be fine," El assured him with a smile as she slid down to sit next to him. "All you have to do is catch him."

Foolishly, Peter thought that would be easy to catch Neal now that he wouldn't get a warning. Neal would soon prove him wrong.


	27. UM - Unconscious Mirrors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Saj_te_Gyuhyall:  
> "If you're still interested in prompts, How about one where Neal and Bryce have NO IDEA the other one exists? Maybe they were place in separate places to protect them, or Neal's mother couldn't handle two kids and gave Bryce up?
> 
> "Whatever the reason, neither one had any idea they had a twin out there. And then they and their respective teams cross paths on an investigation. Cue the mutual WTFs and freaked out feds and con artists! :DD Am I the only one who'd love to see that?
> 
> "Then there are DNA tests and someone has to crack the 'Congratulations it's twins!' jokes. Bryce and Neal spend some time circling each other like uneasy cats, then fall into talks about mutual jobs and the fact that they have pretty much nothing in common accept (ex)girlfriends with the same first name."

**Unconscious Mirrors**

* * *

"Freeze!"

"FBI!"

"Federal Agents!"

"Nobody shoot!"

Sarah and Casey stormed the room from the back as Peter, Diana and Jones stormed through the front.

Neal stood there with his arms slight raised as Bryce stood before him, pointing a gun at his chest. Chuck stood a little further away with a stolen painting in his hands; it was fake, and was glancing between Bryce and Neal.

"Boss, are you seeing this?" Diana asked. Her voice was loud in the silence that followed their entry. It seemed that even the CIA team had been shocked into silence. They had come in to pull Neal out, having gotten the word that Neal wasn't meeting with a thief and his fence but a CIA team.

Casey had decided to jump in the moment Neal proclaimed the painting to be a fake. Sarah followed him in as Casey was 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of person and they needed information, not dead bodies.

Neither team was expecting this.

"What's going on?" Neal asked.

"Sarah? What's the FBI doing here?" Bryce asked Sarah. They seemed oblivious to what everyone else was seeing.

Neal; dressed in his fine suit minus his hat, with his slightly wavy brown hair parted to one side, framing his face, and his blue eyes focused on the gun.

Bryce; dressed in a shirt and pants, with his slightly wavy brown hair parted to one side, the opposite side to Neal, and blue eyes focused on his target.

Same tanned skin colour, same stubble slightly darkening their chins and the sides of their faces and the faint signs of a moustache over their lips and similar quirks of eyebrows as everyone, except them, seemed to have paused.

Diana slowly pulled out her phone, drawing their attention.

"Just taking a photo," she explained, holding it up. "So you can see what we see."

"Oh, that's clever," Chuck praised, doing the same thing to show Bryce.

Bryce lowered his gun a bit and shuffled over to Chuck.

Neal shuffled over to Diana to look.

The same cautious movements with small steps to the side, keeping their eyes on each other and heads turning towards the screens at almost the exact same time.

Their unconscious synchronicity was unnerving to everyone watching.

They even swore at the same time, loudly. Neal swore in French though.

* * *

Neal didn't like this kind of attention, where people stared at you like you were some kind of exotic animal. He also wanted answers as to why this stranger, Bryce, looked like him. And acted like him, if the whispers that followed them could be believed.

"So," Bryce said to him.

"So?" he repeated. Bryce moved and he mirrored the move. While he was moving unconsciously, he knew that he was doing it and he just couldn't stop. Every time he tried, Bryce unconsciously stopped as well. And then they both started again, circling each other.

"You're a thief."

"I'm an alleged thief," Neal responded, "and a convicted bond forger. And allegedly, I'm one of the best." Bryce made a noise between annoyed and interested. "You're a fed?"

"Spy," Bryce corrected, "with the CIA."

Neal made a noise between annoyed and interested.

"You carry a gun," he pointed out, slightly disgusted.

"You don't?" Bryce questioned as if he thought Neal would if he could.

"I don't like guns."

"Doesn't mean you don't know how to use them."

"I do," Neal responded, "but I don't use them. I use words, not bullets."

"Cute."

"Skilled," Neal corrected him.

"Naive," Bryce countered, "that you're not dead yet is a miracle."

"No. I'm just that good."

"I doubt that."

"Then, you're not a very good spy, are you?" Neal responded with a smirk, "shouldn't you know everything about me?"

"Who cares about some conman that the FBI already collared?" Bryce countered with a smirk and raised eyebrow.

Chuck cleared his throat, attracting their attention.

"Think you could sit down?" Sarah suggested before he could speak. There were murmurs of agreement from the rest of the people at the table.

"Look, we get that this is," Diana paused for a moment, searching for the right word, "strange. But how about we wait for the results of the tests?"

"All that's going to tell us is if we're related," Neal responded, pointing at himself and Bryce.

"Which we're not," Bryce said.

"He could be your older brother," Chuck pointed out, "he is a few years older than you, after all."

Neal glanced at the files laid out on the table. All his personal information and the details of his life from eighteen onwards. Bryce's files were displayed on the secure laptop before Sarah Walker and only the members of his team were allowed to see them.

"He looked like you when he was younger as well," Sarah said, picking up a picture of a young Neal, alias 'Nick', with Adler.

"This could be some kind of set-up," Bryce pointed out.

"Really?" Neal commented in a sarcastic manner, "you're worried it might be a set-up? I'm the criminal here, as you like pointing out."

"And I have a number of enemies, any of which could benefit from knowing my personal details."

"When were you born?" Jones asked Bryce, "what year?"

"Why are you asking him that?" Neal questioned in confusion.

"Just curious, I guess," Jones responded, "Chuck said you had a few years on him."

"It doesn't seem that way," Peter quipped. Bryce seemed more professional than Neal, making him appear older.

"1981," Bryce responded.

Neal felt relieved as he realised that there was less of a chance that they were related, since they were born in the same year. Of course, proving it would mean admitting that the birthday in Neal Caffrey's file wasn't his real one.

Hughes walked in before he could say anything and took a seat at the end of the table.

"The results are back," he reported, "General Beckman will be conferencing with us in a few moments." As he said, the screen at the other end of the room lit up and a woman sitting in a decorated office appeared on it.

"General, this is ridiculous," Bryce was quick to say, "we're holding off on an op just because the FBI has someone who resembles me?"

"Agent Larkin, Neal Caffrey does not just resemble you, he is your identical twin."

"What?" Neal questioned.

"That's not possible!" Bryce cried out.

"Twins?" Chuck squeaked.

"Congratulations," Diana said.

"Yeah. Congratulations, you're a twin," Jones added.

Peter mused on this silently and pulled Neal's files towards him as he realised that Neal's birthdate must have been fabricated.

Sarah looked between them silently, face slightly pale.

Casey just looked bored.

"I'm an only child!" Neal and Bryce both said at the same time, sparking another round of comments.

"Quiet down, people!" Hughes ordered loudly, stopping any more protests and comments.

"Thank you, Reese," General Beckman said with an air of familiarity that would have caught attention at any other time. She paused for a moment before continuing, "not only did the DNA tests we run prove it but we also managed to unseal both Neal's and Bryce's adoption files."

'What?' Neal mouthed, no voice coming out. He wasn't adopted! His mother would have told him, right?

"I know I was adopted," Bryce said, "but, there's no record of me having a twin. I looked."

"That's because your birth certificate was changed, along with Mr. Caffrey's."

"Changed?" Bryce questioned.

"It was part of the deal struck with the man who adopted Mr. Caffrey."

Neal muttered something under his breath, an insult towards the man who was responsible for the lies surrounding his life. He had thought he left it all behind when he left WITSEC but, it appeared not.

"Excuse me," Chuck said, raising his hand as he spoke. "But, why would the government make a deal like that?"

"Because he turned state's evidence," Neal grumbled, "and I'd really rather not go into the details."

Bryce glanced over at Neal. Neal's face was impassive but, there was a coldness to his eyes which bothered him. It was obvious that his twin; he had a twin!, had a harder life than he had.

"Your history is not an issue, Mr. Caffrey," the General agreed.

"I think the fact that his birth certificate has been falsified is," Peter mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for Hughes to hear.

"Is there any way we can get access to Caffrey's real information?" Hughes asked.

"No." The General's answer was quick and unquestionable. "We don't need to give any of Larkin's enemies a reason to go after a civilian, especially when said civilian is working with the FBI." There was enough bad blood between the agencies to make working together difficult, let alone putting the other agencies' people in danger.

"So, our files stay the same?" Peter questioned.

Beckman nodded the affirmative.

"I'm putting a 24-hour freeze on this mission while Reese and I review the details and work on a new plan," she reported, "Team Bartowski, stay in New York until your role, if there remains one, is determined. Agent Larkin, you might want to use this time to get to know your brother." With that said, she ended the call.

"Same as she said," Hughes ordered the White Collar team, "the case is on hold, I'll report back when we know what's happening. Caffrey, you might want to see if your landlady is willing to accept guests."

Neal and Bryce shared a look. It looked like they were staring and frowning at each other. What was hidden behind the surface was jittery, jumpy and swirly nerves of terror.

* * *

Bryce didn't care for art.

Neal didn't care for computers.

* * *

Peter dropped Neal and Bryce at June's with a 'good luck' before driving away. Team Bartowski had generously decided to stay at their hotel that night instead of joining Bryce at June's.

To everyone else, there was no question that Bryce was going to spend the night at June's. To Bryce, this was a terrifying prospect. He had looked into his birth parents years ago, using CIA resources in fact, and not once hinted onto the fact that he might have siblings out there.

Neal, for once, had no idea what to say. He didn't want to speak, just in case he accidentally conned Bryce out of something out of habit or conned Bryce into caring for him when the spy would probably prefer to just forget about him. But, what was he supposed to say? Everyone else was acting like this was a good thing he found a member of his family but Neal didn't feel like this was a good thing. Neal felt like he lifted the lid on Pandora's box.

How could his mother not told him? He had, over time, come to realise her reasons behind lying to him about his father's heroics. But, didn't know why she didn't tell him this!

"You live here?" Bryce asked. Neal nodded. "It's nice." Neal nodded again and Bryce felt silent.

They snuck inside and up to Neal's apartment, feeling like naughty kids. But, Neal didn't want to go through introducing Bryce to June when he didn't really know they guy and Bryce didn't feel like meeting any new people today.

"You're back early!" Mozzie gasped as they opened the door. He was standing on a step stool, reaching up to the shelve above the kitchenette where Neal hid a bottle of wine the other day. And then he spotted Bryce. "Who's that?"

"My twin," Neal said through a dry-feeling throat.

"Your, what?" Mozzie jumped down from the stool and moved closer, getting a better look at Bryce.

"I didn't know about it until today!" Neal responded in a quick breath, "and I'll take one of those." He pointed to the bottle in Mozzie's hand.

"How do you not know you have a twin?"

"We were adopted," Bryce explained in a calm voice. It was slightly easier for him since that wasn't new information. His adoptive parents had told him about his adoption during his early teen years.

"I didn't know you were adopted," Mozzie commented to Neal.

"Join the club," Neal responded, sounding more grouchy than upbeat.

"I'll just, leave you two alone then," Mozzie responded, slipping out the door with the bottle of wine in hand.

* * *

Bryce had asked him if he had someone significant in his life. A girlfriend.

Neal had mentioned Kate and how she died. Then he spoke about Sara Ellis who worked for Sterling Bosh.

Bryce had said that he used to date Sarah, the blond married to Chuck.

"How did she end up with Chuck then?" Neal had asked, in the spur of the moment.

* * *

A few days later, Bryce and team were gone and the White Collar division was back to normal. Mostly. Peter carefully watched Neal as he walked into the office, looking for any sign into how he was feeling.

The two teams had become friends, united by the connection between Bryce and Neal. Diana and Casey had spent a good evening chatting about various guns. Jones had roped Chuck into a talk about computers and had even exchanged numbers. Chuck had promised a discount for Jones if he ordered his electronics from the Buy More in Burbank, which Chuck owned, and it was a discount well worth waiting for orders to be delivered. Sarah had seemed almost awkward with them at first but, to everyone's surprise, she and Peter spent a lot of time talking. They bonded over talking about what it was like to be a handler; Peter was Neal's and Sarah had been Chuck's.

Chuck had a habit of not 'staying in the car' as well.

But, Bryce and Neal hadn't really hung out. They hadn't exchanged words unless in a conversation with others and they hadn't made an effort to hang around each other.

Diana had jokingly queried to Jones with Peter in hearing range if they had twin telepathy or something as the silence between them was obvious, especially when compared to everyone else.

"So, how did it go with Bryce?" Peter asked unsubtly as soon as Neal walked up to his office.

Neal shrugged, his face an impassive mask. For a moment, Peter wondered if the two had switched or something. Then he flashed a smile.

"June liked him," he commented right before changing the subject to their latest case.

* * *

 Neal’s mouth had dropped open.

“You-“ he couldn’t believe what Bryce had just told him.

“Broke into a CIA base, yes,” Bryce had responded with a nod. “Got shot for my efforts too.”

“Ouch.”

“What about you?” Bryce had asked with a smile. “How’d you end up working for Peter?”

 Neal smirked and had launched into a tale about forged bonds that weren’t his. His forged bonds would be mentioned later, after Bryce shared the story of how and why he got Chuck kicked out Stanford.

They had talked until late, sharing things that couldn't be shared with anyone else.

* * *

After Bryce left, Neal's new habit involved checking a certain page of a certain newspaper each day. Bryce would send him coded messages through short advertisements for old electronics, some sent just so that Neal would know he was alive. Neal would return the favour with coded messages in short advertisements for books on art, some sent just so Bryce would know he was okay.

And not even Mozzie; who hadn't been informed of Bryce's profession but was a master of paranoia, suspected a thing.


	28. DP - Double Play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From CelestialHeavens1:  
> "I'd love to see an AU of 4x16 In the Wind where Neal and Moz's plan depends on Bryce and James doesn't get away because Bryce is in the apartment when James goes there"

**Double Play**

* * *

James didn't know Neal. Not really. And Neal kept a few things from James. If James had thought to ask, Neal would have answered. But, he never did.

And, in the end, that would be his downfall.

* * *

When James confronted Senator Pratt, it wasn't Neal standing by his side. It wasn't Neal who watched as he got close enough to Pratt to clone his keycard. It wasn't Neal who Pratt lumped with James for the assault charge.

That was Bryce.

* * *

It was Neal who Peter encountered in the elevator of the Empire State Building. It was Neal who Peter took the tracker off and Neal who proposed to Sara Ellis on the Observation Deck.

* * *

During that time, Bryce was dress in a green janitorial outfit, complete with green cap, sunglasses and an ID for a 'John Green'. His job was to follow James and intervene if he didn't anything suspicious.

He also has a small video camera with him. Video evidence was best when it came to proving that their father was bad to Neal. Bryce didn't want to get into a fight about it and he had seen the way Neal looked at James.

He stayed out of sight as they made their way up to 51st floor and into Pratt's office. He watched them extract the evidence and watched as Mozzie switched it out.

_Good old Moz._ Bryce knew that Mozzie would get the evidence to Neal. He followed James.

He heard James being taken at gunpoint as Pratt and his goon took the box.

He cautiously followed them to the 50th floor, ducking behind a pillar as the goon was sent away. He crept into the room, keeping low and staying behind things as Pratt and James faced off.

He pointed the camera at them but remained ready to run at any time. And then Peter came in. Bryce kept recording but kept his eye on both Pratt and James. Luckily, neither of them were pointing their gun at Peter, the only person who Bryce was willing to intervene to protect.

Not that he could have intervened in time to save the Senator's life. It happened quickly and Bryce was lucky to record it.

"I'll testify that it was self-defence," Peter said James, holding at gun on the man and trying to convince him to turn himself over to the law.

Bryce was amazed. He could see that James had no intention of being arrested but that Peter was willing to give this man another chance spoke greatly of his character. Bryce himself hadn't been able to give James another chance.

But, James left. Bryce plugged a number into his phone and slipped out after him, hearing Callaway order Peter to drop his weapon.

Bryce glanced at the camera in his hands. Had his father really left Peter to take the fall for something he did?

* * *

Bryce met Neal outside the building. He wordlessly handed him the camera and his phone.

"What's wrong?" Neal asked, "where's dad?"

Bryce felt tears prick in his eyes. He described the events recorded on the camera and told Neal to call the number already dialled into his phone.

"The codephrase is 'pineapple prank'; say it and tell them to come to this location. They'll help you help Peter."

Neal nodded. His mouth was slightly agape and his eyes haunted.

"Tell me you're going after him," he finally said as he pressed the call button on the phone.

Bryce nodded and said, "I know where he's going."

* * *

James moved straight towards the evidence and Bryce watched him from behind a door. He pulled out anything that incriminated him and Bryce felt a pang of anger.

"Why did you come back?" he asked, emerging from behind the door.

"I came back here to say goodbye to you," James responded, sounding emotional. But, Bryce was a spy. He knew that people could say things that they didn't mean, he did it himself all the time.

And he knew it was a lie because he wasn't the person James thought he was talking to.

"Pratt's dead. Callaway arrested Peter for his murder," he pointed out, "what did you do?"

"It was self-defence."

"And Peter will testify that," Bryce pointed out calmly, even though he didn't feel the least bit calm, "all you have to do is tell the truth."

"I can't do it."

"If you don't, Peter will take the fall, is that what you want?" Bryce let a little of what he was feeling, a little of the hurt and desperation, seep though his words. What he wanted to ask was;  _'what about me? Why didn't you ever mention me? Why don't you ask about me?'_

James silence was answer enough.

"I'm sorry, son." And he turned away.

"Stop," Bryce said, grabbing his arm.

"Don't," he snarled and Bryce instinctively let go. James had finally shown his true colours. "Don't make me do something I'll regret. I'm going to give you some advice. In this life, somebody always takes a fall. Don't let it be you."

Bryce thought about the Intersect, the first time he stole it. He took the fall for that, sending it to Chuck so that the other man could keep it from the Ring. He almost died because of it, twice.

"There are things more important than protecting oneself," Bryce responded. He grabbed James by the shoulder and swept a kick to the back of his knees and slammed him to the ground before he could react.

Then he pulled out a pair of cuffs and cuffed the man's hands behind his back. He buckled and jolted and tried to push Bryce off, but Bryce gripped his neck and pressed a knee into his back.

"Neal? What are you doing?" James questioned.

"Arresting you," Bryce responded. And if James couldn't figure out who he really was, then he wasn't going to tell him.

"You can't, you're just a felon on an anklet."

Bryce banged James' head into the ground. Lightly but still, it would sting for a while.

"I'm CIA," he whispered into his ear.

* * *

Peter was cuffed and Callaway led him through the lobby where a vigil of agents watched. He kept his head high as he walked and tried not to think about his wife and what would happen if James didn't come forward.

"Callaway!" Hughes called as he stepped through the doors.

"Hughes," she greeted in her flat tone, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see justice done," Hughes responded. Callaway gave him an unbelieving look.

"Peter didn't do it," Neal added, appearing from behind the older man. He held up a video and pressed play.

"What is this?" Callaway questioned, glancing between them. Then she watched as Pratt was shot by James Bennett.

"Uncuff Agent Burke," Hughes said, "and then we're going to the office to discuss this."

"Discuss what?" Callaway demanded to know.

"Ellen's evidence box, James, Pratt, all of it," Neal said softly, "the whole case."

"As recorded by Special Agent Bryce Larkin of the CIA," Hughes added at normal volume.

Callaway raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"He'll be at the FBI," Hughes said.

* * *

Peter couldn't believe what was going on. The shades of the Conference Room were pulled as Callaway, Hughes and Bancroft all talked with a woman who Neal only called 'the General'. She had been the one who they reported to during their investigation.

"I thought you were looking into Pratt off-book," El said as she ran her hand up and down Peter's arm. They were seated in chairs along the walkway of the bullpen with Jones and Diana while Neal sat on his desk.

"I know someone in the CIA," Neal admitted, "and when I mentioned Ellen and Pratt to him, he suggested joining in on the investigation. The CIA now has the evidence and I believe they'll do the right thing with it."

"'Agent Larkin'?" Diana guessed.

"Where is he?" Peter added, "James Bennett is in holding but the agent who put him there seems to have vanished."

"He's coming up," Neal responded, right as the elevator doors opened.

Peter gave El a look that asks 'how does he do that?'.

Bryce walked through the door and paused. There were gasps of surprise but he was focused on the one small figure who had been rummaging through Neal's desk drawers.

Bryce opens his mouth, his first words in their company being;

"What's Mozzie doing here?"


	29. HR - Home Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From CelestialHeavens1  
> "...another one that might be fun would be one set during 3x15 Stealing Home. I just think the idea of Bryce and the CIA trying to take down Gordon Taylor at the same time Neal and the FBI were would be interesting."
> 
> Read (re-read?) chapter 2 for the story of how Chuck and Neal (as Danny) met.

**Home Run**

* * *

Gordon Taylor. If there was an award for 'most well loved crook', he would win it. Taylor was, after all, one of the most beloved cons in the world.

Bryce didn't like him. Taylor reminded him of another smug conman and the comparison, while accurate, bugged him.

"He has a saying; 'Nobody gets caught. Everybody gets paid'," Sarah explained as she watched over the entrance to the pool hall where Taylor was rumoured to be interviewing a future member of his crew.

"Wow," Chuck said, awe and praise evident in his voice, "that's some job security."

"Yeah and so far he's managed to live up to it," Sarah explained, "hasn't been caught once."

"We're the ones who're going to change that," Bryce commented in a determined voice.

"Good," Casey said through the comm. He was situated outside, in one of the nearby buildings, ready with a sniper rifle if they needed cover fire. While most of Taylor's jobs could be completed without harming innocent bystanders, he often moved sensitive items and information around. His actions had exposed agents and indirectly put numerous people in danger and he needed to be stopped.

"Here comes his two o'clock," Casey announced, "the skinny guy in the white shirt with tie and hat."

Bryce turned to the screens and watched as a man with a dark fedora hat stepped out onto the street. He was carrying a case and looked like he was on top of the world.

"That's the guy?" Bryce questioned, squinting at the screen. He had his suspicions about who it was but, he needed them to look right at the camera.

"Saw him meeting with the little guy who hooked up with Taylor," Casey said. He had been watching him the longest, having already been in New York when the mission details came through. "He's either part of the crew, or knows who is."

A car whizzed past and the guy turned to look back, giving them a shot of his face. Chuck said it before Bryce could;

"Isn't that Danny?"

Bryce slammed his hand on the chair in frustration. It was. And he felt like an idiot. Neal had told him that he was trying to get out of the life and Bryce had believed him.

"Sarah, drive," he ordered, "we're picking him up."

"What?" she questioned. Even though she didn't understand, she knew how to follow orders. She pulled the van out and up the street towards Neal Caffrey. "Who's Danny?"

"Bryce's twin brother," Chuck responded, having met the guy back at Stanford.

"Bryce's, what?" she cried out in surprise, over the sound of the van pulling over and Bryce banging the side door open.

"What the!?" Neal protested as Bryce grabbed his shoulder and yanked him into the van.

"Bryce! Careful!" Chuck warned as Bryce practically threw Neal across the van before slamming the door shut.

"Bryce?" Neal questioned, his breath coming rapidly from shock. He stared at him for a few moments before recognition lit on his face.

"Why are you working with Taylor?" Bryce demanded to know. He stood there with his hands crossed over his chest, glaring down at his older twin brother. "You told me you were going to stop with criminal activities."

"Not technically criminal activity," Neal responded, wincing as pain shot through his shoulder when he stood up. "And slightly less criminal than kidnapping people."

"Not a kidnapping," Chuck was quick to say.

"Could of fooled me," Neal responded. He stood tall as he faced Bryce, also crossing his arms over his chest. "Now, care to explain why you kidnapped me?"

"Well, the original plan called for sending Chuck in to wow Taylor," Bryce responded, "but, now that you're here, we're going to change it."

"What?" There were three cries of protest and surprise. One from Sarah, one from Chuck and one from Casey.

Neal was silent. And then he smirked.

"You want me to be your inside man."

* * *

Sarah drove the van down the street and then pulled into a parking space.

"Why did you kidnap him?" Casey demanded to know through the comm., "now Taylor's going to know we're onto him!"

"Taylor's new guy is Bryce's twin!" Sarah responded, sounding breathless from the surprise.

"Casey, get over here," Bryce ordered, "we're going to take a different approach."

Casey gave a disappointed grunt in reply but, began packing up.

"Neal, you okay?" Chuck questioned.

"Yeah," Neal responded as he sat down in one of the chairs. "So, why are you looking into Taylor?"

"He's cost us agents, criminals and innocents." Bryce gave him the short answer.

Neal seemed surprised by this information.

"I thought he didn't like guns?"

"That doesn't mean he won't hurt someone if the price is right," Bryce responded, "so, again, why are you working for him?"

"Uh, Bryce," Chuck said while Neal sat silently. "You might want to focus."

Bryce gave him a confused glance. What would focusing accomplish? Chuck tapped his head, indicating the Intersect.

Bryce exhaled a long breath and turned to Neal. He concentrated and felt the computer in his head boot up. Because he had been injured when Chuck activated the Intersect 2.0, with him in the room, his Intersect took longer to give him information and it was more of a controlled process. A lot less handy than Chuck's for pointing out spies in their mist.

It flashed with information on Neal Caffrey; his arrest record and his FBI CI credentials.

_His FBI CI credentials?_

"You work for the FBI?" Bryce questioned in surprise.

"And you're still with the CIA."

"Did everyone know about that except me?" Chuck questioned incredulously. His question went unanswered.

"So, what's the plan?" Neal asked with his conman smirk.

* * *

Bryce gave Neal a tracker. They knew that Taylor would disable the FBI listening devices with a frequency jammer. The tracker they gave Neal could be turned on later and they could use it to track him to Taylor.

 _'Just get him alone,'_ Bryce had said.

Neal forged the baseball, sending Peter a message on where the exchange would happen.

He played the security guard, clearing the room and grabbing the ball after one of the other members of the crew smashed the glass.

Neal watched as Mozzie was arrested, a fake arrest to keep his cover. It wasn't Taylor who the FBI caught exchanging the ball for money.

"The air thickens when things don't feel right," Taylor said to him before passing him his check.

"'Everybody gets paid,'" Neal quoted. He knew what came next. The tracker Bryce gave him was active.

"Freeze!" He did as asked when Sarah, Casey and Chuck burst onto the balcony.

Taylor frowned and glared at Neal; Neal just shrugged and nodded over towards Bryce who was standing below them on the other side of the street. They could see him from their vantage point but Peter and the FBI couldn't.

Confusion crossed Taylor's face as Casey and Sarah led him away.

* * *

"So, FBI, huh?" Bryce questioned, sitting across from Neal at his apartment in June's. He was feeling slightly silly for not realising it earlier but he never would have thought that his almost law-phobic, since finding out the truth about their birth father, brother would end up working for the FBI.

"It's a good deal," Neal said noncommittally.

Bryce just hummed his approval.

"And, yes, I am trying to go straight," Neal grumbled to him, "I have a commutation hearing coming up-"

"Sounds more like you're going free, not straight," Bryce responded. There was a pause where Neal looked scandalised before Bryce smiled. "No, this is good. Maybe you can visit us in Burbank." Bryce had been stationed with Chuck's team for the time being.

"So, working at the Buy More," Neal smirked, "how's that working out for you?"

"Ha, ha," Bryce deadpanned at Neal's subtle joke about his cover, "it could be worse."

There was a knock and Neal shot Bryce a look that told him to run.

"Wait," Neal hissed when Bryce ran for the balcony, "where are you going?"

It was Bryce's turn to smirk as he pulled up a harness attached to the balcony. Before Neal could protest, he jumped over the balcony and slid down to the ground.

"Spies," Neal grumbled good naturedly with a shake of his head before telling the person at the door to come in.

It was Peter, who talked Neal through his theory of how Taylor got away; he charmed Mozzie and Mozzie liked him too much to see him get caught. Neal listened and nodded and didn't inform him that Taylor was in CIA custody. He wasn't ready to tell him about Bryce yet.


	30. WFAR - What Friends Are For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From ImanArchAngel at Fanfiction.net:  
> "And i had another thought, both Neal and Bryce are capture. Team Bartowski and Team Burke to the rescue."

**What Friends Are For**

* * *

Neal struggled in the chair until the very unhelpful guard pointed his gun in his face.

"Really?" he questioned sarcastically, "doesn't your boss want me alive for questioning?"

"One of you will be enough," the guard responded, nudging his gun towards Bryce who was tied up in the other chair.

They were locked in the stereotypical dungeon and tied to chairs, locked behind iron bars and had their very own guard to watch them. And shoot them if they escape.

Neal sighed and sat back. He turned to Bryce, who was glaring at him, mad that he baited the guard. There was only so much the guard would take before deciding to actually shoot him.

"Wanna make bets on whose team will get here first?" Neal asked with a reassuring smile.

* * *

Peter stormed the building with his FBI backup, but Neal was already gone. It had only taken them three minutes, three minutes after Neal said the codeword, to get there. Obviously, they had taken too long.

"Pedestrians claim to have seen a van skidding away moments ago," Jones reported.

"Find it," Peter proclaimed in a strong voice, "pull surveillance, talk to the witnesses, run the licence plate, just find me that van!"

There was a skidding sound outside as another van pulled up. This one was black and a tall, brown hair man came jumping out the moment it stopped.

"Bryce!" he called out, running in. A blond woman grabbed him and pulled him back, whispering something to him.

"Want me to remove them?" Diana asked gently. They all knew how Peter got when any of his men were taken or injured; with Neal, those feelings were hundredfold and turned Peter into an unstoppable force of nature. A really scary, unstoppable force of nature, who she didn't wish on anyone except those who took Neal.

"No," Peter responded. There was something in the brunette's face, something familiar that he felt was probably mirrored in his own. He walked over and the couple turned to look at him.

The woman swore under her breath but the man stood tall.

"Was there anyone here when you arrived?" he asked, "my friend, he was in here when we lost contact with him."

"Your friend?" Peter questioned. The met was Neal, the fence and another interested buyer, who they could only identify as 'Bruce'. "Bruce?"

"Chuck, they're FBI, leave it to them," the blond said, trying to pull the man away.

"If you have any information, I'm sure we can make a deal," Peter informed them. Anything, if it meant getting Neal back.

"We don't know anything," the blond said.

"Sarah," Chuck sighed, "we're supposed to be on the same side. And if we work together we could find Bryce faster."

Peter didn't appreciate the unbelieving glance Sarah gave him.

"I doubt that."

"Answer me one question," Peter said, seeing that she was ready to leave, "is this 'Bryce' you're talking about the 'Bruce' that was supposed to be the other buyer at this meet?"

She nodded and partially turned away, scanning the area. Chuck watched before turning back to Peter.

"The FBI got here fast," he commented, "do someone tip you off?"

"Chuck!" Sarah hissed across the room.

There was certainly something about this man. Peter couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was but, he would bet that he wasn't a criminal. Which left another option.

"The other buyer was our inside man," Peter admitted, "and I'm guessing that this Bryce was yours."

Chuck nodded and pulled out a badge.

"We're CIA," he said, to Sarah's horror, "although, we'd appreciate it if you didn't report this."

"Were you recording the meet?" Peter asked, "and did you get a picture of the van that left this area?"

"Yes, but the sound cut out after the other buyer and fence appeared," Chuck responded in a confused tone, "and I'm not sure about the picture." He pressed a button in his watch. "Casey? Did we get a shot of the van?" There was silence as Chuck unconsciously moved his hand to his ear. He nodded and then said to Peter, "we have someone going over the footage now and Casey is bringing in the recording."

A few moments later, a military-like man walked in with an ipod in his hand.

"Morgan put the recording on this," he reported as he passed it to Chuck. Then, under his breath, he grumbled, "hope you know what you're doing."

Peter raised an eyebrow as the man glared at him, like a challenge. Meanwhile, Chuck put one of the ear-buds in his ear and held out the other to Peter.

Hesitantly, Peter reached out and took the other ear-bud.

* * *

"This way Mr. Halden," that was the fence talking as he walked into the room with Neal. "I have word that the other buyer has arrived."

"Oh, no." That was on the FBI tape as well, Neal groaning under his breath. A moment later the fence would freak out and Neal would drop the codeword and then the sound would cut out.

* * *

Peter frowned. There was something he was missing. Chuck's recording was almost exactly like theirs, the fence freaked out and called the whole thing a set-up, except Neal saying the codeword into the bug in his watch wasn't there.

Peter still didn't understand how the fence knew it was a set-up.

"Well?" Chuck asked with hopefulness in his voice. Peter shook his head and Chuck's face fell.

"See? Useless," Casey grumbled, "we'll find Larkin without them."

"Too bad we didn't get the other buyer on tape," Sarah lamented to Peter's confusion.

"Yes you did," he said. The confusion on their faces was welcome, especially since Casey was outright insulting him and Sarah seemed to be in agreement with him. "Rewind it," he told Chuck. They listened to it again. "Stop there!" Peter ordered when the 'oh, no' sounded. "That's Neal."

"That's Bryce," Chuck said.

Peter frowned; that wasn't possible.

"Sounds exactly like Neal," he said, "and this recording is almost exactly like ours."

"Maybe they sound alike?" Sarah suggested gently.

Peter glanced at Chuck, wondering if he would defend him. After all, they were the ones listening to the recording. But, Chuck had a thoughtful expression on his face, like he was trying to remember something.

"Do you have a photo of Neal?" Chuck asked as he pulled out his phone.

Peter thought about it for a moment. He did, he recalled. Neal had lifted his phone once and taken a picture of himself. It wasn't the only time he lifted his phone, he took the thing at least once a week, it was just the only time he took a picture of himself. Neal had titled the collection of pictures 'life in the White Collar office' and, true to advertising, they were pictures of the people and places in the office.

He loaded up the image, Neal smirking into his phone, and showed it to Chuck.

Sarah drew in a sharp breath and Casey took a step back.

"This is Bryce," Chuck said, turning the screen of his phone so that Peter could see the image displayed on it.

Chuck and a dark-haired, light eyed man who looked extraordinarily like Neal Caffrey standing together and smiling into the camera.

Jones, who had been walking up at the moment, took one look at the screen and swore.

Peter felt like doing the same thing. As it was, he didn't know what to do with this information. His brain seemed to stop working.

"Twins," Chuck explained, "Bryce has a twin, possibly the guy you call 'Neal'."

"That would explain why the fence thought it was a set-up," Jones said, "two guys who look alike, there's no way he didn't think something was up."

Peter made a noise somewhere between the groan and a sigh as he kicked his brain into gear. Neal needed help; this was not the time to be surprised by his long lost family members.

"That means he might not realise they work for us," he realised, "he may believe that they are working for themselves." But, that might not hold up for long. He didn't want to think about what would happen to Neal if they thought he was FBI and he really didn't want to think about what might happen to Neal if they mixed up and thought he was CIA.

"Well, my man Morgan says he got the van's plate on camera," Chuck commented, "think we can do something with that?"

* * *

Neal was in the middle of humming a tune when Bryce heard it.

"Shh!" he ordered. Neal stopped but shot him a wounded look. Bryce nudged his head towards the ceiling and Neal took the hint and listened.

There was a strange scrabbling sound. It started out soft before growing louder. Like someone was scrabbling their way over a tin roof.

It grew loud and then stopped.

"What-" Bryce started to question. He was cut off by a squealing noise followed by a metallic bang as the vent above them gave way and crashed inside the cage.

"Ow." It was Morgan. The man with the dark, although short, beard He pulled himself out of the segmented vent and up off the ground.

"Does this count as my team rescue?" Bryce questioned. Morgan was here to rescue them, hopefully, but had managed to get himself locked in the cage.

"Please don't tell me you were gambling on when you would get rescued," Morgan whined, "I mean, I'm supposed to save you both."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Neal said. Bryce agreed. It really didn't matter which team came for them as long as they were both rescued; the ten dollars they bet was only ten dollars after all.

"So," Morgan questioned as he looked around, taking in the bars surrounding them and the padlock holding the gate closed. The guard had been knocked unconscious by a piece of the destroyed vent. "How do we get out?"

"Generally, the rescuer comes up with the plan," Neal informed him.

"Well," Morgan thought about that for a moment. He decided that, "there's only so long the FBI can stall for us."

"What?" Neal and Bryce questioned at once. Neal's voice was hopeful while Bryce's was slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, there's this guy, Agent Burke, and his team were totally on board to help us as soon as Chuck figured out that there were two of you and that's what freaked the guy and they ran the number plate that I found in the recordings and stuff and Casey's not happy but they're just outside keeping Gino, that's the fence dude, and his boss out of the building while I sneak in," Morgan said quickly.

"Does this mean a tie?" Neal questioned, "since they're both here?"

"But, my team reached us first!"

"Only because my team's plan meant that he would."

"How do you know that it's your team's plan?"

"Uh, if I may?" Morgan said, "Agent Burke's team came up with the plan and Chuck suggested that I would be the best fit in the vents."

"And how did you plan to get out?" Bryce asked.

"Walk?" Morgan responded in a know-it-all manner.

Neal sighed. There was a tension between Bryce and Morgan that he didn't understand.

"Untie me," he said. They both glanced at him like he was speaking a different language. "Untie me," he said again, "and I could probably pick the lock and get us out."

"Ohh," Morgan said in slow realisation. It still took him a few more moments before he moved to untie Neal.

* * *

Morgan had a pin attached to his shirt that Neal used to pick the lock in the time it took for Morgan to untie Bryce.

"Me first," Bryce said, pushing past Neal to freedom. Neal didn't like that but couldn't say anything. Neal did know how to fight but, he had no doubt that Bryce was better.

They left the room; Bryce scanning the area, Neal muttering to him that he could do that too and Morgan just rushing out.

"Look, calm down," Neal heard Peter say. He was just beyond the door. Shots sounded moments later.

Neal and Bryce spurred into action, dashing through the door, expecting chaos on the other side.

They found Chuck standing over an unconscious Gino with a tranq gun in his hand. Peter was standing behind him, relieved to see Neal.

Both Neal and Bryce were a little shocked. Although they hid their surprise as Jones and Diana, followed by Sarah and Casey, burst through the entrance.

"They really do look like!" Jones commented as he lowered his gun.

"Neal!" Peter said in a relieved tone, slapping Neal on the shoulder.

"Bryce! Morgan!" Chuck cheered. Then he glanced between them.

"We got Gino's boss," Sarah reported, "he's unconscious in the van and ready for transport."

"And we get Gino," Diana added with a nod of agreement.

Peter ignored them and asked Neal, "they didn't hurt you?" Neal shook his head. "You're okay?"

"I'm fine," Neal responded in an elaborated tone. Everything went silent for a moment and a conman sense of Neal's kicked in, sending a chill down his back.

"Good," Peter said with a nod. "So, Neal, why didn't you mention Bryce?"

"Uhm, what?" Neal said in response.

"Bryce," Sarah stated in a slightly annoyed tone, "you never mentioned a twin. Not once."

"You don't like to talk about your past," Bryce responded, "so I didn't talk about mine."

Sarah crossed her arms and glared at him.

"You think it's not important to mention how you have a twin out there? Someone who looks exactly like you, who might be mistaken for you?"

"Highly unlikely," Neal interrupted.

"Oh no. You want to be looking here," Jones pointed out, motioning between him and Diana.

"Yeah, Caffrey, why didn't you mention your fed-half?" Diana asked.

"'Fed-half'?"

"I'm more interested to know why we never found the guy, even when we were looking for you," Peter said.

"I joined the CIA before Neal moved to New York," Bryce informed him as both he and Neal realised what was going on. Questions, lots of questions, as their agent 'friends' interrogated them on their kinship and lives. They got a link into the pasts of Bryce Larkin and Neal Caffrey and now they were interested.

"Oh, so the CIA kept the FBI from discovering Bryce which in turned kept them from discovering Neal," Morgan summed up. Chuck nodded to him in agreement.

"I still can't believe Chuck met you before," Sarah said to Neal, "when was that?"

"Yeah," Diana added, "when was that?"

Neal sent a silent plea for help to Bryce, who send the same thing back to him. It looked like they would be spending a night in the interrogation rooms.


	31. DP2 - Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Saj_te_Gyuhyall:  
> "Hah! Cool one! Hope you do a bit more of this one, hopefully a scene where the twins have a face to face with their father?"

**Together**

* * *

From Saj_te_Gyuhyall at AO3:

_Hah! Cool one! Hope you do a bit more of this one, hopefully a scene where the twins have a face to face with their father?_

* * *

Bryce stood outside the FBI interrogation room. His arms were crossed and he was leaning on the wall, his eyes fixed on the scene taking place inside. Jones was in there, questioning James Bennett about Pratt's death and the evidence box.

"So, which one are you?" Diana asked, walking over to him with a coffee.

"Bryce," he responded, "can't you tell?"

She snorted and shook her head.

"Not when Neal's walking around, doing anything he can to keep busy, with the same frown on his face."

Bryce wondered if Neal was as upset with their father as he was. He had held the suspicion that their father was using Neal, even if Neal wasn't completely convinced. He had been proven right but, somehow, that didn't mean a thing.

He had been hoping he was wrong and he hadn't even realised it until he had placed the cuffs on James Bennett and walked him down the stairs at June's. Even though he told the man he was CIA, he didn't think that he knew exactly which twin he had been talking to.

Why didn't his father ask about him, just once? The question stung.

"You should talk to him," Diana insisted, "as yourself, not pretending to be Neal."

"That's not my job," Bryce responded, turning his back to the sight of his father. Diana looked surprised by his response, before letting out a sigh.

"Here," she said, passing him the coffee. "For you. Hopefully you like your coffee the same as Neal."

Bryce shrugged and took a sip. It was okay. Not as good as the coffee Neal got at June's but not as bad as the coffee provided by the FBI machine.

"Are we just going to stand here or are we going to go in and question him?" Mozzie questioned, bouncing down the hallway like he owned the place with Neal walking slowly behind him. "I'm going to have to burn a safe house because of that man, so you might as well get the full experience."

"Full experience?" Diana questioned.

"Not for you, Lady Suit," Mozzie said, "for Bryce and Neal."

"Neal?" Bryce questioned, directing his confusion towards the one person who he had a chance of understanding here.

"We're going to talk to James," Neal said in a subdued manner. He had been quiet after the events of that day and their father's arrest.

Bryce snorted.

"No we're not."

"Yes, you are," Mozzie said with an air of certainty.

Bryce just stared at him in response.

* * *

Jones looked up as the door opened.

"Neal, son-" James started to say, in order to defend himself. But, Bryce walked in right behind Neal and stood next to him.

"Hi, dad," they said together as James' jaw went slack and he started to go pale.

Jones cleared his throat and excused himself from the room.

"So, I'm Neal," Neal said with a twitch of a smile. Mozzie has suggested that they reintroduce themselves. "Neal Caffrey. Conman. Forger. Thief. I'm the one who you first met and I'm with the FBI as Peter Burke's CI."

Bryce stood silent until Neal gave him a slight nudge.

"Bryce Larkin," he said with an impassive expression. "I'm the one who works for the CIA. Neal called me in as soon as he knew that you were our father." He paused and then decided to just say everything that was bothering him. "You know that we've been looking for you for years? Neal used his criminal connections to try and find you. I used CIA resources. And you think it's okay to just turn up when you want something?" He saw James' eye twitch and realised something. "You didn't intend to reveal yourself to us. You were only using Neal because he knew where the evidence was. That's why you never asked about me. And the only reason you tried to act like a father towards Neal is because he found out and it made it easier to manipulate him."

"Son," James started before stopping. He had no way to talk himself out of this. He was prepared to reason with one son, not two. Plus, he couldn't afford to speak to a CIA agent and possibly incriminate himself further.

Bryce and Neal stood there, waiting. Neal's eyes were light with suppressed hurt while Bryce's were hard with disappointment.

"Forget it," Neal said after a few moments. He turned to Bryce and said, "June would like it if you came to dinner and Peter's wife has invited us to brunch tomorrow. I extended June's invitation to Diana and she agreed, apparently she has some news to share, and Jones is going to come too."

"What about Mozzie?" Bryce questioned. The little guy had been surprising him all day, first by working with Feds and then by entering a Fed building. Mozzie also knew how to lay on the guilt, talking about his parents who abandoned him and what he would do if he could meet them until Bryce agreed to see James with Neal.

"He's coming too," Neal said to Bryce's surprise, flashing his bright conman grin. "He really wants the try the recipe June's cook is doing for dinner."

"And June owes me a game of Parcheesi," Mozzie said, sticking his head in the door. "So, I would really like to leave."

"Had enough of the Man, Mozzie?" Bryce asked.

"Always," Mozzie responded, "let's go."

Neal gave a laugh and walked out while hovering a hand behind Bryce's shoulder to spur him out as well. Once they were outside and the door closed, they shared a glance back at James Bennett, sitting alone and cuffed.

"Neal!" Peter called, walking quickly down the hall. "I need a tie for tonight, something El might like, can I borrow one of yours?"

"What?" Bryce questioned as Neal nodded.

"Thank goodness," Peter sighed in relief. He then turned to Bryce. "You'll want to see this, Neal has a drawer filled with ties."

Bryce gave a curious glance to his brother before following them down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the last of 'Spies vs Cons' (please, don't freak out! I'll explain).
> 
> I don't want 'Spies vs Cons' to be one of those one-shot collections with a huge amount of chapters which may intimidate new readers. So, I'm going to end it and start posting the next set of one-shots in a new collection called 'CIs vs Agents'.  
> Basically, you'll have to start following a different story for future updates.  
> Sorry about that.
> 
> I'll still be writing responses to the prompts I've already received, they'll just go into the new collection.  
> Consider this one complete.


End file.
